
Class T X n 
Book.___2Ll__ 
Copyright W. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SCIENTIFIC 

BUILDING 

OPERATION 



Edited by 

^1^ ■ 



CrA. PATTERSON 

and 

WILLIAM C. LENGEL 



Chicago 
Patterson Publishing Co. 



^l 







^^X^ 



Copyright, 1913 

BY 

Patterson Publishing Co. 






Foreword 



IN PEESENTING "Scientific Building Operation" to you we have 
undertaken to gather and place in one book, the most practical and 
valuable articles that ever have been written on questions of the 
management of buildings. These topics dwell comprehensively on 
the subjects of renting, janitor service, elevators, illumination, buying 
supplies, cost data and comparative percentages. 

There is no attempt on our part to present this book as an edition 
of entirely new ideas on the management of buildings, yet what we have 
gathered together in the following pages will be found of practical value 
to any manager or owner of buildings. While it is in no way a primer 
on the subject, we have been very careful to eliminate such technical 
terms as would confuse the average layman, thus making it a book for 
popular distribution among those interested. 

Many of the articles herein contained will be remembered by sub- 
Fcribers to Building Management as appearing in times past in that 
magazine. ^ 

Our endeavor has been to ijcarefully select from every available 
source the best treatment of the subject, but even in this our judgment 
may be questioned. However, we feel reasonably sure that the contents 
will merit the approval of our readers. 

In preparing this book we feel some pride in the fact that it is 
the first book ever published on the subject of managing buildings after 
completion. 

While volumes by the score have been written about building archi- 
tecture and engineering, this is the first presentation of a book to aid the 
owner and manager to secure a proper dividend at a minimum operating 
cost from a building erected. 

THE EDITOES. 



Contents 



PART I— MANAGEMENT 

Systematic Office Building Management 
By J. E. Randell. 

Qualifications of a Building Manager 

By Alfred Higbie. 
How to Become a Manager of Business Properties 

By Charles Duross. 
Proper Management of Buildings 

By W. H. Class. 

PART II— RENTING 

The Elements of a Renting Policy 

By Earle Shultz. 
Filling an Office Building with Tenants 

By Alfred Higbie. 
Determining a Rental Rate 

By F. H. Heywood. 
Getting Tenants for a Building 

By C. A. Patterson. 
The Renting Department 

By C. F. Noyes. 
A Specialized Building 

By Charles Fellowes. 
How Leases Should Be Made 

By L. L. Banks. 
Legal Relations of Landlord and Tenant 

By C. J. Fuess, LL. B. 

The Ninety-nine Year Lease 
By Alexander S. Taylor. 

PART III— ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS 

System of Comparison Records 

By C. M. Duncan. 
Systematic Records and Reports 

By Whitney Wall. 
An Accounting System for Office Buildings 

By Edwin A. Wasserman. 
Various Systems for Keeping Office Keys 

PART IV— OPERATION 



Page 
9 

15 

20 

26 

35 
40 
43 
SO 
55 
60 
63 
70 
79 

91 

101 
108 
112 

117 



The Cost of Operating a Building ..... 

By C. A. Patterson. 
Ratio of Gross and Net Cost of Operating to Gross Rents of Office, 
Loft and Apartment Buildings ...... 121 

By Clarence T. Coley, M. E. 

4 



Page 

The Operating of an Office Building 134 

By J. E. Randell. 
Uniform Keeping of Cost of Operation ..... 136 

By Charles F. McBride. 

PART V— JANITOR SERVICE, ETC. 

Efficiency and Cost of Janitor Service ..... 143 

By Albert Kern. 
Janitor and Elevator Service ....... 150 

By C. S. Hughes. 
Janitor Service in Western Buildings ..... 155 

By E. H. Sennott. 
The Employment Department 159 

By Emil G. Cheuvreux. 
Vacuum Cleaning .......... 161 

By Joseph Baker. 
Keeping a Big Factory Clean 165 

By E. S. Park. 

PART VI— REPAIRS 

Economy of a Local Repair Department 173 

By John A. Fedeler. 

PART VII— BUYING SUPPLIES, ETC. 

Purchasing Supplies for an Office Building .... 183 

By J. M. Walshe. 

The Office Building Supply Department 193 

By Frank McLean. 

Make a Profit from Waste Paper ...... 196 

Buying Coal for a Building ........ 198 

PART VIII— ELEVATORS 

Elevators: Their Types and Rules for Their Care and Operation . 205 

By J. J. Forbrich, Associate A. I. E. E. 
Elevator Erection and Maintenance ...... 211 

By J. A. Martin. 
Elevator Service, Signals and Accessories ..... 218 

By Henry C. Tulley. 

PART IX— LIGHTING 

The Lighting Problem 231 

By J. J. Forbrich, Associate A, I. E. E. 

PART X— INSURANCE 

Fire Insurance as It Relates to Buildings 239 

By Charles E. Doty, Chairman 1910-11 of the Fire Insurance 
Committee of the National Association of Building Owners 
and Managers. 
New Fire Schedule of Fireproof Office Buildings 247 

By Cullen Brown. 
First Official Report of the Fire Insurance Committee of Building 
Owners and Managers ........ 250 

By Charles E. Doty, Chairman. 



PART I 



Management 



Systematic Office Building Management 

By J. E. Randell 

WHILE it is all important that a building shall be so constructed that 
it can be operated economically, it is equally, and perhaps more 
important that the manager in charge of the completed building 
shall have had sufficient experience to be able to take every advantage in 
avoiding the expenses so easily incurred by the multitude of small details 
in which money can be spent without benefit to the building. 

The operation of a large office building representing an investment ot 
millions of dollars is as difficult and intricate to control and manage as any 
other business requiring a large capital. The results in dividends are no 
less eagerly awaited by the individuals who hold the stock, or own the 
property than are the dividend results of any large sales corporation. It 
should, therefore, be not only the policy, but the duty of all managers to 
reach out unceasingly after the things that work toward efficiency, coupled 
with economy; and what better method is there than a convention of this 
kind, which brings together the best talent from all the different cities on 
this continent, for the purpose of exchanging experiences and listening to 
ideas from one locality which may be new to persons operating In another. 
I have been requested to touch on 

(1) Follow up system for prospective tenants. 

(2) The selection of tenants. 

(3) Space utilization. 

(4) Labor. 

(5) Purchasing. 

(6) Minor mistakes of installation during construction. 

(1) The follow-up system which has proved of most service to me in 
filling a new building is very simple, and for that reason probably effective. 
When I solicit a prospect or receive an inquiry for space I give my secretary 
a memorandum containing the name, address, nature of business and tele- 
phone number. These memoranda are noted on the same line, directly under 
each heading, so that at a glance I can see that the prospect is Tom Jones 
Company, 1127 Century Building, Lawyers, Central 1095. A line is drawn 
under this to make it easily seen. On the sheet I keep a memorandum of 
each interview. For instance: 

August 1st, 1909. — Mr. Jones said he could not consider space because 
location is too far from court house. He needs 3,000 feet, is paying $1.60 
per foot. Lease expires April 30, 1910. 

August 10th, 1909. — Gave Jones plan of Nos. 1112 to 1126, showing how 
office could be arranged. Spoke of fine light, proximity to elevators, showed 
list of other prospective tenants, explained how central our location is for 
most people. He says he will not consider space, but will see It before de- 
ciding finally. 

August 15th, 1909. — Called up Jones and made appointment for 1:00 p. 
m. tomorrow to show him space. 

August 16th, 1909. — Jones saw space, liked light and depth of office, 

9 



asked for figures and blank plan. Offered him 3,000 feet at |1.90 per foot 
per annum. 

August 25th, 1909. — Called up Jones because Johnson Company are look- 
ing at space. Jones says give until August 27th for him to decide — will not 
increase his present rental more than ?500 per annum — says our space 
divides economically. 

August 26th, 1909. — Called Jones for answer — he will call at 9 a. m. 
tomorrow. 

August 27th, 1909.— Closed 2,650 feet at $1.80. Executed. Returned it 
after getting proper signature. 

August 31st, 1909. — Received lease from Jones. Returned to him for 
partner's signature. 

September 1st, 1909. — Received lease properly executed. Returned it 
after getting proper signature. 

This is a fair sample and covers each step in the transaction. 

These prospect sheets are kept alphabetically in a file. Before filing, 
however, a memorandum slip is made and placed in a diary file, calling 
attention to the time for the next interview. Each day the memoranda 
are taken from the diary file and placed before me so that none can be 
missed and the element of chance is eliminated. If any prospect is out of 
town, another memorandum is placed in the diary file so that it will appear 
again on his return — perhaps a month afterwards. 

It is easy to look at the daily memoranda and then refresh your mem- 
ory from the prospective file by seeing exactly what you have said or done 
with a man before seeing him again. If the prospect does not take any 
space, the memorandum can be removed and filed in a "Refused" file. 

On the selection of tenants depends the reputation of the building. It 
has been said that to have an office in certain buildings Is like a rating in 
Bradstreet's or Dun's. 

A new building is always beset by a host of schemers, who wish to 
trade on the name of the building, knowing that the advertising incident to 
the erection of a prominent building will go far toward instilling confidence 
in the minds of their victims. These people will have a cut of the building 
on their letterheads as though they owned it, and woe unto the man down 
in the country who puts up his savings, thinking the scheme must be good, 
and woe unto the reputation of the building which harbors such schemes. 

In Chicago there are agencies which make a business of looking up 
reputations and I have found a contract with one of these a splendid ia- 
vestment 

My chief trouble is with undesirable sub-tenants or desk roomers, who 
sometimes creep in unnoticed to share an office with someone already 
holding space. 

In our eagerness to lease space we have probably all been tempted to 
accept some person who is balanced on the fine line separating the "near 
desirable from the undesirable," but it is unquestionably a good rule to hold 
space vacant rather than accept undesirable tenants. Their mal-odor will 
permeate the entire building and attract other birds of prey until the name 
of the building becomes a byword and the manager a laughing stock of his 
competitors. 

For years I have been a pronounced opponent of office space which 
cannot be naturally lighted. There are two cardinal points which can 
either make or break a building. The first is light, the second is location. 

10 



I heard a Chicago architect argue that the more rentable floor area there 
is in a building, the greater the revenue will be, and this sounds logical, 
but in the years I have spent in connection with office buildings I have 
found this statement to be absolutely disproved. The fact is that the more 
naturally lighted rentable floor space there is in a building the greater the 
revenue will be, but who is foolish enough to lease dark space which it is 
necessary to light artificially if naturally lighted space is available? It is 
against reason, because a tenant is then assuming the expense of a lighting 
bill in addition to his rental. It has been argued that the light Is furnished 
in some buildings without charge to the tenant so that he does not feel this 
extra expense. In that case the building feels the extra expense in its 
coal bill. To illustrate this point let us consider a building on a corner 
facing two streets and constructed so that it has two wings with a 60-foot 
court between. The offices facing the street will naturally have good light, 
provided they are not over 25 feet in depth; the court offices, however, 
depend entirely on the width of the court for their light. If the offlces 
facing this court are made deep, say thirty-two feet, how will the ten feet 
farthest from the windows be lighted, on the floors below the center line 
of the building? In order to get two private offices and a reception room, 
a tenant must take at least twenty feet frontage, or 640 square feet, and 
in order to make up for the deep reception space, which it is necessary 
to light and furnish, the rental must be reduced rather than allow the space 
to lie idle. How much better would it have been to have made the light 
court wider and the court offices not so deep, say twenty-two feet. The 
same price would be obtained for the two private offices and the reception 
room without question and the rate per square foot increased accordingly. 
Why, then, is it necessary to build the extra ten feet of depth across the 
entire length of each wing? The original investment would have been, 
perhaps, $100,000 smaller and the returns would have remained the same. 
You may ask how do I know the same price could be obtained for the 
shallow offices. My only answer is that during the years I have spent at 
this work in connection with a number of buildings of both kinds, this has 
been my experience, and for that reason I am convinced. 

In these days good service in a good building is expected and furnished, 
but good, natural light is the molasses which catches the tenant. Natural 
light means satisfaction for, and better work from, his employes and a 
minimum expense for artificial illumination. It keeps the tenants praising 
the light offices and so advertising the fact to others who may subsequently 
become tenants. 

The two principal items entering into operations are labor and supplies. 
Labor runs into money faster than any other expense. It takes a great deal 
of study and individual investigation to be able to satisfy one's self that 
each man is giving his full energy. Where one janitor can be done without 
it saves $600 per annum. In working out a labor system for my building, 
I looked over buildings using women to do janitor work instead of men 
and found that to do my work with women would increase the cost $1.18 
per fioor per night over that incurred by using men, except for scrubbing. 
This looks like an insignificant amount, but when you figure 19 floors at 
$1.18 each for 307 working days, you will find a saving of $6,882.94 per 
annum. 

We have about 20,000 feet to a floor. On that floor I use two janitors 
to do the sweeping, and we don't use any women except for scrubbing. I 

11 



have a regular force of scrub women, about 20 of them, who scrub a certain 
space every night. A woman scrubs approximately 4,00U feet where she 
has to move furniture. In some other buildings they use the women for 
doing all the sweeping, but the women cannot move the furniture, and they 
waste more time than they gain. It is too heavy for them. They wiil waste 
half an hour trying to struggle with a desk when a man would move it 
in half a minute. They cannot reach up high enough to clean woodwork 
and it is dangerous to put a woman on a step ladder. 

My men clean about 10,000 feet a night each, working 9i/^ hours. It 
is very hard to regulate that. On some floors it will take a little more than 
one man to do the same amount of work. On that floor you have to take 
the man from the next floor to help him. The next floor may be an easy 
one with large space, 1 mean large open space, not many heavy rugs, bare 
floors, so that you will have to even it up. It is a little hard to set rules. 
The women are paid 18 cents an hour in Chicago. The janitors are paid 
20 cents an hour. The women work up to 11 o'clock. The men work all 
night, with a rest from 11 until about 3. There is two cents an hour differ- 
ence between a man and a woman, and a man can do a great deal more 
work than a woman can do in an hour. 

Of course we all carry liability insurance to protect our building from 
personal damage suits. Under our policies the insurance company takes 
charge of the case as soon as any one is injured and we are not permitted 
to interfere in any way with their disposition of it. We cannot advise or 
suggest anything to the injured, nor do we wish to. This feature is perfectly 
proper, because the insurance company has to pay the bills; but how about 
the person injured? If that person is an employe of the building and is 
injured in the discharge of his or her duties, it seems extremely heartless 
in an employer to sit back until the insurance company can starve or coerce 
the victim into a settlement. Is it your custom to abandon the employes 
to the insurance company, or do you assist them for a reasonable time until 
they are on their feet again? I bring this up because some persons think 
I am a "soft mark" in cases of this kind. The expense of seeing that the 
little comforts are provided has never cost me more than the employe's 
wages for one month, and seldom more than half that amount. During a 
year the average will .hardly be more than three accidents in one building. 

It is equally bad when a steady employe who is really ill and imable to 
work for his or her pay to stop immediately on the date of such illness. 
I know that there are a large number of floaters who work here today and 
somewhere else tomorrow, but the regular employe is the one I refer to — 
the man or woman who has been with you long enough for you to feel that 
the work expected of them will be done properly and at the proper time. I 
have in mind the case of a woman who had worked for me for two years and 
suddenly became ill. She had three children dependent on her. Her wages 
amount to $30.00 per month as a scrub woman. There was no accident, just 
illness — temperature at 103 and pulse 120. Too poor to have a doctor or 
buy food for the children. In this instance, of course, I had her cared for 
temporarily. 

In another case I had a man whose arm was so badly crushed that it was 
necessary for the member to be removed. I felt duty bound to see that the 
man got proper attention and did not lack the necessaries during his two 
months' illness and put him to work again at odd jobs on his return. Without 
question the attention he received made him willing to accept a favorable 

12 



settlement with the insurance company. The money spent, however, was 
not with the sanction ot the insurance company and, therefore, could not 
be collected from that source. 

I would like to see a universal method adopted by building managers 
which would abandon the heartless way of casting off an employe, like an 
old glove, when he meets with serious aamage or sickness while in the 
discharge of his duties, in my judgment we spend money for a hundred 
things around a building which do not prove as good an investment as one- 
half pay up to, but not to exceed, two months for an injured or genuinely 
ill employe who is laid up for more than one week. In saying this I do not 
intend to cover the employes who may be absent through drunkenness or 
shiftlessness. These should be discharged instead of being assisted. 

Where the purchasing is done by the engineer, chief janitor and super- 
intendent, I have observed that it has generally proved unsatisfactory. In 
my judgment the men who superintend the use of materials — I am only 
speaking of one building, not an aggregate number of buildings — should 
always be consulted regarding the most efficient supplies for specified work, 
but should never be in contact with the salesmen. If all purchasing is done 
in the manager's office by one man who makes it his business to keep an 
alphabetical card index of purchases, his price list will always be up to 
date and accessible if the manager wishes to look it over. I find that the 
engineer, janitor and superintendent prefer this arrangement, because it 
puts them in a position where they cannot be suspected of graft. These men 
can inquire regarding prices at all times and suggest trials which they think 
will prove more economical. They can watch the result of experiments 
with new material with as much interest as the manager himself, because 
they are naturally anxious to make the best possible showing both in results 
and in the cost of such results. 

A few things improperly installed make no end of trouble and expense 
during the subsequent operation of an office building. One of the things 
which, in my humble judgment, should be made obligatory on architects is 
the use of galvanized pipes for all plumbing. The inside of a waste pipe 
soon becomes coated with a slimy protection which prevents corrosion, but 
dampness collects on the outside, especially during the summer months, and 
causes heavy rust, and it is only a matter of time until a leak will be dis- 
covered and then the tearing up and the consequent expense commences. 
Vent pipes rust on the inside and become clogged with scales. 

The urinals are usually arranged in the same location on each floor 
and are often cross connected with the janitor's slop sinks, so that the 
water supply to either cannot be shut off without shutting off both. There 
is no object in having the urinals flush every six or seven minutes during 
the night, and for a man to climb up and shut off the supply to each urinal 
tank in the building at night and turn them on again each morning would 
prove entirely too expensive. 

The urinals should have independent runs of their own with a shut-off 
valve in the attic as well as at each tank, so that a man can turn one valve 
and stop the water waste in less time than it takes to tell it. The separate 
run will pay for itself in six months in the saving of water. 

See that the architect locates the water and waste outlets for wash- 
bowls on the columns along the corridor walls and not at right angles to 
the columns, where they obstruct the space and from which position you will 
be obliged to move them in dividing space for tenants. 

13 



A central toilet room in a large building becomes a heavy burden on 
the elevators on account of the necessary inter-floor traflac occasioned there- 
by. The installation of a small toilet space on alternate floors proves of 
great benefit to the service because the majority of persons will walk up or 
down one story rather than take an elevator. The cost of installation is 
heavier than that occasioned by a central toilet, but the subsequent results, 
when the building becomes filled, will be most gratifying. I took account 
of the number of people traveling in my elevators a short time ago, and we 
are carrying 24,230 people a day. That included all that inter-floor trafflc, 
because we have a central toilet room on the eleventh floor. Pe(5ple go to 
and from there. The population of the building is not over 3,000. I know 
it is not easy to guess at the population. I have had people guess 1.5,000. But 
by the actual census in the building the population is about 3,000. 

In my judgment the installation of a filter system, except for water to be 
used in the boilers, is a waste of money. An ice machine to cool drinking 
water for tenants is as unnecessary as it is unappreciated. It is human 
nature not to appreciate something which costs nothing either in money or 
bodily comfort. The lack of filtered water to wash in and filtered and cooled 
water to drink is no hardship for the average tenant. He will buy spring 
water and ice, which are kept in his cooler and operated without cost to the 
building. The filter and cooling systems are expensive to operate and keep 
In repair, and, as far as my experience shows, carry no weight in getting 
large rentals. In renting our building I never mention the fact to anybody. 
In fact, before they ever knew that we had any filter system in there or any 
ice water, I had it cut off and they don't know it to this day, and we get the 
rent. The architect put it in. That was part of the game. 

Elaborate ventilating systems are too often unnecessary after the build- 
ing is fairly in operation, because you subsequently find a way, generally, 
to provide natural ventilation in order to avoid the expense of operating fans. 

Good natural light in offices, plenty of artificial light in halls, adequate 
elevator service, good janitor service and prompt and cheerful attention to 
complaints — and probably that carries more weight than anything else. You 
have to be right up and doing when there is a complaint. Don't fire them out 
of the building. That will do more toward keeping an office building full 
than furnishing the tenants with luxuries which are expensive to install and 
operate, and which cannot be abandoned when once the tenants have had 
them. 




14 



Qualifications of a Building Manager 

By Alfred Higbie 

BETWEEN the thousands of tenants in our large office buildings, who 
want the best there is to be had, and the corporate interests who 
own the building, and who are constantly demanding large returns, 
stands the man in charge of the building. It is this determined individual 
who has been developing himself during the past few years, and who must 
act as arbitrator or referee between the owner and the tenant, and be able 
to satisfy both, that has come to be known as the "Building Manager." 

The manager of properties, and office buildings in particular, must be 
a man peculiarly adapted to this particular line of work. The field is so 
broad, in respect to the different lines with which he must be familiar in 
order to be a successful manager, that it is a difficult task to outline all of 
the numerous details which he must have stored away in his ready refer- 
ence book (his mind) where they can be drawn upon instantly, and with 
accuracy. 

The manager of a large office building comes In contact with a great 
many people in the prosecution of his work. These people belong to all 
stations in life, from the millionaire to the humble janitor who cleans the 
toilet rooms, and in mingling with these two extremes of human nature it 
would be bad policy, indeed, for him to assume the air and dignity of the 
millionaire, or stoop to the level of the janitor, but he should be able to 
adjust himself to both extremes and carry himself in a manner that will 
command the confidence and respect of them both. 

If the manager is engaged before the lot is selected, or the building 
planned, the burden of responsibility rests upon his shoulders as to whether 
or not the building is rightly located and rightly planned. 

The proper locating and the proper planning of an office building is a 
huge load for one man to shoulder, especially if he is assuming that re- 
sponsibility in a city with which he is not entirely familiar. In this case 
he should not assume to choose the location without advice. Although 
his advisers may know absolutely nothing about office buildings, he can 
get from them certain facts which he must have in order to make the 
correct selection. They can advise him as to the streets on which there 
is the greatest amount of traffic; the all-important point of getting in, or 
as close to the financial center as possible; the location of the courts 
and post office; the corners where the greatest amount of transferring 
from the local street car lines is done; in which direction, if any, is the 
natural trend of the business section. After carefully weighing all of these 
points, and getting informed on any point that may not be perfectly clear 
to him, the experienced manager should have no trouble in making the 
proper selection. 

There is none of you who, in your home city, could not point out the 
best location for an office building as soon as the question was asked, but 

15 



if placed in another city, where the conditions are entirely foreign to you, 
you would find it au entirely different proposition. 

In the planning of an office building, there is almost as much re- 
Bponsibility as in locating the site. As I have stated before, I believe the 
architect is the proper person to make the preliminary drawings for any 
building. (When I speak of buildings, I am referring to buildings such 
as most of us are connected with, anywhere from eight stories up.) But 
when the plans are being revised, re-drawn, torn down and built up, the 
experienced manager has a chance to show the value of his experience, 
genius and idea-creativeness. It is up to him to revise those plans In such 
a manner that the building, from a rental standpoint, will derive the greatest 
return on the investment. 

There is a "best place" in every building for the corridors, stairway, 
elevators, toilets, janitor closets, etc., and it is up to the manager to find 
these "best places." There are only two reasons why these places should 
not be rightly located. First, on account of the inexperience of the manager, 
and in this case he should consult with some one who does know. Second, 
if the manager is an experienced man, and these conveniences are not 
I'ightly located, he has missed his calling and the sooner he gets out of 
this line of work the better it will be for him and the owner of the property. 
There is not one chance in a thousand for the manager to make a success 
unless he has climbed the ladder and earned his position through steady 
progress. 

The majority of office buildings put up today are built for revenue pur- 
poses alone, and if an experienced man is on the ground he should and will 
act as a safety valve on those who would add to the architectural beauty 
of the building at the expense of the rent producing qualities. 

Any and everything which will detract from the desirable renting 
qualities of the building should be eliminated, while everything in the way 
of rent influencing factors and conveniences should be added. 

One of the places where the experienced manager can render the most 
valuable service is during the construction of the building. He can and 
should be of inestimable value to the architect and the sub-contractors. He 
should be consulted and able to give expert advice on the following subjects: 

As to the system and number of elevators to be installed. 

As to the speed of the elevators. 

As to the weight of the elevator doors. 

As to the kind of finish of the woodwork throughout the corridors and 
offices. 

As to the style of plumbing to be installed. 

As to the general arrangement of the entrance and lobby. 

As to the style and strength of the glass to be used in the doors and 
corridor partitions. 

As to the arrangement of the alley entrance and freight elevator. 

As to the location of wash stands and lavatories. 

As to the arrangement of the corridor and office lighting. 

As to the arrangement of the different risers for the heating system. 

As to the arrangement of the heating and power plant. 

And last, as to the arrangement of the different offices, providing the 
partitions are put in before the offices are rented. 

He should be able to adjust the rents at a figure which is as high as 
the offices will rent for, but not high enough to drive prospective tenants 

IG 



away; to figure the annual rental of every office in the building, regardless 
of the location on the floor, also regardless of the location of the building, 
in Buch a manner and at such a price as will bring the best returns for a 
building of its class. 

In establishing the rentals of a large office building a great many 
things must be taken into consideration — the location, the quality of the 
building, the conveniences, the service, the amount of light in each indi- 
vidual office, the ventilation, etc. 

He must be competent to select the most capable men for the heads of 
the different departments, men who know their work, when and how it 
should be done, and will see that it is done when It should be, and as it 
should be. To do this in such a way as will produce the best results, he 
must be a good student of human nature. Be sure that every employe 
carries out the spirit of the management. If he does not, eliminate him. 
On the other hand, give him credit for any new innovations he may intro- 
duce which tend to reduce the time or cost of his work. 

He should be so familiar with local conditions that he can tell whether 
or not it will be to the advantage of the building to have work done by the 
day under his own supervision, or have it done by outside contractors. 

He should know the prices of the different building material which he 
is called upon to purchase very frequently, and the prices of labor, such as 
plumbers, steam fitters, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, painters, elec- 
tricians, etc. 

It is not necessary for him to be a plumber, but he should know where 
the different valves are located, and what they are for, so that if it became 
necessary for him to shut the water or steam off from any part of the 
building he could do so without calling the engineer. 

He should be enough of an electrician to know where the different 
switches are located, what machines they control, and should be able to 
throw them off in case of an emergency. 

He must be familiar with and able to select the best grades of soaps, 
powders, polishes, mops, brooms, brushes, and the various supplies which it 
is necessary for the janitor to have on hand at all times. 

In order to keep your finger on the pulse of the expenditure, to know 
what and when a thing is being bought, and at what price, it is necessary 
that all supplies be purchased through the manager's office. In this way 
you can advise with the heads of the different departments when they come 
to you for supplies, and ascertain if certain supplies are giving the anticipat- 
ed or expected results. It is not sufficient that you audit the bills as they 
come in, but you must purchase the supplies yourself in order that you may 
have that intimate knov/ledge of the quantity and quality of the supplies 
that it is so necessary you should have. 

When you purchase the supplies yourself you remove certain temptations 
which otherwise would surround the heads of the different departments, 
and with these influences removed, they will only recommend those supplies 
which give the best results. If the manager is on the job and discovers 
wastes and leaks, his employes will discover them, too, and the building 
will thereby receive a double benefit. 

The cost of maintenance of any building depends on two things. First, 
the character and location of the building. Second, the man who runs It. 

When a tenant moves into a new building he must take his chances, 
and the word of the manager, as to the quality of service he Is to receive, 

17 



but after a few years when the building has become established the quality 
of service will regulate, to a certain extent, the demand for offices in that 
particular building. Watch your service carefully. Good service will not 
only hold old tenants, but draw new ones. 

When you promise to do a certain thing for a tenant, do it as soon as 
possible. Don't procrastinate. Promptness is one of the most important 
features in the management of an office building. 

It is very Important that you should know the name, number of the 
office and business of every tenant in the building. You are very frequently 
asked the office number and business of Mr. So and So, how long he has 
been In the building, where he came from, 'and how he is considered 
financially. In fact, you are not considered as being on the job unless you 
know the pedigree and family history of every tenant in the building. 

One of the best things to guide and help you settle certain questions 
which arise from time to time, certain conditions in your leases, and any 
other papers with which you may Ifave to deal, is a course in Realty Law. 

The most of you who are managers of large office buildings have an 
attorney on the board of directors, or one who is a stock holder in the com- 
pany, who directs the affairs of the building, and upon v/hom you are at 
liberty to call whenever you may need his services. But it is a source of 
great satisfaction to be able to settle a great many questions composed of 
one-half law and the other half horse sense, without calling on your legal 
adviser for instructions. The latter knows there are many questions of 
landlord and tenant to be settled in connection with the operation of a large 
office building, and he also knows If they are not settled or adjusted in the 
proper manner they will ultimately come to him. If they do not get to him 
he knows his company has a man on the job who is perfectly able to look 
after and adjust these questions without calling for assistance. 

The attorneys for most of our large corporations are employed by the 
year, or given a certain amount of stock in the concern for their advice la 
directing the affairs of the company. Court the friendship of your attorney. 
Keep him advised as to the condition of affairs. After you have settled a 
matter, go to him and tell him what you have done and how you have done it. 

There will come a time when you may want an increase in your salary, 
or some unprogressive member may want to remove you for spending the 
money necessary to keep the building up to date, but at these times the 
advice of your attorney will be asked, and you may rest assured that it 
will not be adverse to your best Interests If you have shown him you ar« 
capable. 

Be broad, liberal and open-minded toward your tenants' ideas and 
methods. It is a splendid idea to occasionally look at your problems from 
your tenants' standpoint, but settle them from your own. 

If your shoulders are to assume the responsibility, your brain should 
dictate the decision. 

Adopt a positive attitude in all dealings with your help and tenants, but 
remember there is no rule so "iron clad" but in the hands of a person with 
an average amount of common sense, has a certain amount of elasticity. 

If a tenant asks for anything which is a little out of the ordinary, the 
manager should be able to size up the situation in a second. Take into 
consideration the time he has been in the building, the promptness with 
which he pays his rent, the reasonableness of the requests he may have 
made in the past. If his previous demands have been moderate; if he has 

18 



paid his rent promptly, and has been a good tenant with all that the term 
implies, and you would not be flagrantly violating your rules and regula- 
tions by granting the request, grant it. 

Be very careful not to get on such a friendly basis with your tenants 
that they will be tempted to ask for certain fancy decorations or extras, 
which they know they could not get without the advantage of the "friendship 
club" which some of them would be unscrupulous enough to swing over 
your head if given the opportunity. Be on a friendly basis with all of them, 
but show no favoritism or partiality, as it will lead you into many an em- 
barrassing position if you do. 

The following paragraph was written by C. A. Patterson of Building 
Management: 

"The manager of a building is mayor, police, health and street clean- 
ing commissioner, and department of public works to a community of several 
thousand people under a single roof. So vast has this real estate field 
become that no man can possibly know it all and the higher the building 
specialist develops, the greater success will be the building from an invest- 
ment standpoint." 

No writer has ever made a truer statement than the above. At the 
same time the progressive building manager has the satisfaction of knowing 
that while he is developing his building to the "Peak Load," so to speak, 
he is developing himself so that he will be ready at any time to assume 
greater responsibilities and achieve greater successes. 

The business of managing oflace buildings has developed so rapidly with- 
in the last few years that it has come to be known as a new profession. 
This development has been so rapid that it has been only within the past 
year or two that the building manager, as an authority on planning and 
equipping an oflftce building, has come to be recognized by owners and 
architects generally. Many buildings have been erected during the past 
year with an active Building Manager in direct consultation, and it is not a 
diflBcult task to look into the future and see the time when every architect, 
who is planning a building of any importance, will have a building manager 
in consultation. Now a new problem confronts him, namely that of his 
compensation. There are now no standards to go by and I believe we should 
adopt a percentage, based on the amount of work necessary, so that all 
managers competent to handle this class of work can have a guide in 
this connection. Many requests have been made for a basis from which to 
figure this percentage and this body of men are the logical ones to answer 
it. Architects, as many of you know, work on a minimum percentage of 
five or six per cent of the total cost. Why should not the building manager 
have a percentage to work on? The establishing of a basis of percentage 
for the building manager's services, when he is giving expert advice, will 
do much to elevate this new profession and formally establish it in the eyes 
of owners and architects. 



IS 



How to Become a Manager of Business 

Properties 

By Charles E. Duross 

MY advice to a man starting out in real estate, who wishes to build up 
a business in the management of business property is, first of all, 
after a course of study in the theory of real estate, to get right out in 
the field where he can gain the actual experience under the guidance or in 
the employ of someone who has business property to manage. It is not 
enough to know the theory alone, one must have the pi'actice as well, in 
order to avoid serious mistakes that might prove costly to himself or to the 
property which he represents. 

Having had, therefore, a thorough knowledge of the theory by the course 
you are wisely pursuing in this excellent school of learning and the actual 
experience by working in the field, the main question then is to get the 
business, that is, the property to manage. A man may be ever so expert, 
conscientious and practical, but that alone will not bring him bread and 
butter, if he has not the property to manage. He must get hold of the 
property. You must convince the owner that it is to his best interest to 
place his property in your care. This can be done in various ways, and 
right here is the crucial test. Sometimes it is done through friendship with 
the owner or through acquaintance with friends who may have influence 
with owners; often business is acquired through a judicious location of an 
office. But I have found the most fruitful results to come from a careful 
study of the wants of the business man and the manufacturer, backed up, 
of course, by industry, tact and perseverance. 

To illustrate more clearly my meaning of the needs of the business man 
I will describe a concrete case which actually took place in my own ex- 
perience. Several years ago, down on the lower West Side, in the vicinity 
of West Washington Market, south of Forty-fourth street, it was proposed to 
build the new Chelsea docks, and to do this it was necessary for the city to 
acquire title to considerable of the upland then used by the beef houses, 
poultry and provision dealers. The idea occurred to me that if a suitable 
location could be found it might be practical to move all these dealers in 
the allied market trades in a body, and this would mean good business for 
the broker as well as a solution to a perplexing problem to a large number 
of tenants. So I set out to work on the project, interviewing a number of the 
more influential concerns to get their ideas as to the essentials required, such 
as location, buildings, railroad track facilities, etc. Then I made a 
thorough canvass of the available property. A location was found which 
could be suitably improved and which could be connected with the railroad 
tracks, providing a franchise could be obtained from the city government. 
To get this franchise it was necessary to go to the Board of Aldermen, and 
finally to the Mayor, whose signature was necessary to make the franchise 
legal. 

After all these things were in shape the next step was to find some 

20 



one concern courageous enough to undertake the purchase of the land and 
the erection of the buildings and the cold storage plant. 

Finally one firm was found that saw a handsome profit in the enterprise. 
A block front on Tenth avenue between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets 
was secured; the buildings were started and the enterprise was soon on a 
sound basis. All these different steps to the transaction were tedious and 
trying to the last degree, yet they netted good commissions to the broker. 
But this was not the end of the deal so far as the broker was concerned. 
While all this took place nearly ten years ago, my firm is still drawing com- 
missions from the management of those twelve or fifteen buildings, occupied 
by such strong tenants as Armour & Company, Morris & Company, the G. H. 
Hammond Beef Company, Cudahy & Company, The National Packing Com- 
pany and many others. 

The steady income to the real estate ofiice looking after business prop- 
erty is one of the surest sources of profit. I mention this case merely to 
show you how business may be secured by laying a plan to get it and follow- 
ing up that plan. 

The property having been secured, the cares and burdens of the agent 
are only beginning. The agent should endeavor always to have the good 
will of the tenants and, of course, should study to find ways and means to 
make the property in his charge productive and profitable to the owner. 
I once knew an agent who worked very hard to get property in his charge 
and he showed great cleverness and ability in that line, but after a while 
he seemed to relax his efforts and allow the buildings to run down, his 
tenants became dissatisfied and some moved out. Now, no landlord is satis- 
fied to have vacant buildings, especially for a long time. And so my friend 
finally lost the management of the building and eventually he went out of 
business. This man was something like the old time ward politician who 
worked hard around election time, and after election worked his friends 
in office until he landed his job, and when he began drawing his salary from 
the government he considered it was for the hard work he did in getting the 
job and acted not at all like a public servant, but like the public's boss. 
This is a great mistake for anyone who intends to become a successful 
manager of property, and especially business property, which of all kinds 
requires the most study and the exercise of the best judgment. 

To manage a business property successfully two things should always 
be kept in mind: Keep the property fully rented by a careful selection of 
tenants and keep down expenses or fixed charges. It is essential that you 
should go frequently amongst your tenants, talk with them, learn the re- 
quirements for the accommodation of their business as they themselves will 
explain them to you. 

The agent is the man who gives service to both tenant and owner, gives 
it cheerfully and quickly, and denies it just as cheerfully, and withal so 
diplomatically as to make the tenant have confidence in him and in any 
event to feel that he is being treated justly and with proper consideration. 

The agent should be the first to detect a tendency in any trade occupy- 
ing space to change the trade center or locality. It is well to be alert in 
this respect in order either to counteract that influence or to aid it on by 
finding tenants to take the place of the departing ones. Sometimes in the 
space of a year whole buildings rented in lofts have changed entii'ely the 
character of the tenants within their walls. 

To keep buildings rented requires tact, perseverance and foresight of 

21 



a high order. Fi*om three to six mouths before expiration of leases one 
should lay out a plan for uew tenants or renewal of leases with old tenants, 
if they have proven desirable. It is usually better to keep old tenants than 
run chances on getting new ones. This is on the theory that "the Devil 
you know Is better than the Devil you don't know." Repairs and alterations 
are generally less expensive and costly when old tenants remain and renew 
their leases. It is good policy also to make repairs for old tenants, even 
before it is an absolute necessity, to keep your tenant from moving. The 
reason is that a satisfied {enant is the best asset a landlord or an agent can 
have. It is well to anticipate necessary repairs and by so doing you may 
often save considerable expense to the owner and keep the property up to its 
greatest efficiency. The property which is kept up in proper repair when the 
dull renting time comes, as it is bound to after panics and during periods 
of depression, is much more apt to keep its tenants than that which is 
allowed to run down and drift along. Nothing gives a reputation for success 
to an agent like keeping his property fully rented and in good physical 
condition. You all know that oft-repeated axiom, "Nothing succeeds like 
success." This is true in the management of property as in any other 
business. To hold your tenants it is important to always keep your temper 
unruffled, never allowing yourself to seem impatient or grouchy. On the 
contrary you must show every sympathy and interest in their undertakings 
and enterprises. It will not do the agent any good to assume the attitude 
that the tenant exists only for the sole purpose of paying rent. 

The necessity for an agent in the management of business property is 
apparent to anyone giving it a moment's thought. A conscientious agent 
who knows his business saves the owner more than the amount of the 
commission paid. The average owner of business property is himself a 
business man who cannot afford to spend the time necessary to give the 
property proper care and attention, hence he must depend on someone else 
to do this important work for him. No one can do this more efficiently 
or economically than the agent. The average building will not afford the 
services of a superintendent, who is competent to look after the repairs and 
rent space. The agent who specializes in business property is in a position 
to do this work. He can have repairs done at the lowest cost because he 
is constantly in touch with contractors who are most efficient in their 
several trades, and more important, he has the best facilities for keeping 
the buildings fully rented. He knows best the market value of the space, 
and this expert knowledge is worth a whole lot more to the owner than the 
commissions paid on rents collected. 

It is the agent's business to manage the property in his care; to bring 
out the best results not only for a month or a year, but continually without 
break, year after year. 

The proper management of business property involves a great deal 
more work than merely renting the buildings and collecting the rents. The 
agent is usually expected to perform many other services for the owner, 
such as looking after the water rates, tax bills, fire liabilities and plate glass 
insurance; the hiring of employes, such as elevator men, firemen and 
engineers. He must also pay these their wages weekly. He must get 
estimates for the necessary repairs to the property and keep a close watch 
on the work while it is in progress. There are also electric and gas bills 
to be attended to, besides all the endless orders that sometimes come from 

22 



the Board of Health, Bureau of Factory Inspection, Bureau of Buildings and 
other state and city departments. 

When all these details have been carefully looked after the agent need 
have no fear that he is in danger of losing his employment. There is no 
other business or profession I know of where so much service and attention 
is given for the fee charged. The landlords, as a rule, are appreciative of 
their agent's work and quite often very confidential relations spring up 
between landlord and agent. Indeed, I know of agencies which have had the 
management of business property for generations and the present owners 
would no more think of taking the management away from their agent 
than turning their property over to the state for a park use. 

Although a great deal of work and care is a necessary result of the 
management of business property, yet it is generally admitted to be desir- 
able business for a real estate office to have at least a certain amount of 
such business. New York City is growing so rapidly and business property 
is spreading out over so large a territory, especially in the section below 
Central Park, that agents in lower Manhattan will do well to develop that 
branch of their business which looks to the management of business prop- 
erty. The really large commissions are received from selling, but the office 
that has the management of property is the surest to get these whenever 
the property comes into the market, for the reason that he is in closest 
touch with the owner and best understands the conditions under which the 
property is offered. The agent who has charge of the property has another 
advantage in selling over the outside broker, because he can speak with 
authority regarding the income and expenses of the property which he 
manages. The buyer usually wants reliable and convincing evidence before 
he invests. After an investor has acquired a property he is very liable to 
retain the agent in charge who is familiar with the tenants and who haS' 
proved his ability by his previous experience. 

In taking charge of business property, great care should be given to 
secure tenants in the same building congenial to each other. Otherwise 
conflicts and annoyances may arise; the tenants will be unable to get 
along among themselves and will be dissatisfied with their surroundings. 
For instance, it is obvious that manufacturing concerns and selling agencies 
or commercial firms should not under ordinary circumstances occupy adjoin- 
ing quarters in the same building, likewise it would show bad judgment to 
place printers and publishers in the same building with milliners and dress- 
makers. This matter usually works itself out to the satisfaction of all 
concerned, as tenants are themselves very cautious about renting space in 
buildings where other tenants are not congenial. However, the agent is 
often called on to pick and choose his tenants. This one condition alone 
is sometimes enough to cause success or failure in the management of a 
building. Therefore, great care should be taken in getting a building well 
rented at the start. 

Success resolves itself into a question of honesty of purpose, energy, 
ingenuity, efficiency, enthusiasm, diplomacy and salesmanship. After all is 
said and done we do not attain success in this business by rules and pre- 
cepts alone. It requires considerable study and attention, it is true, but 
besides this and beyond it requires a generous use of shoe leather and 
hustling, backed up by common sense and judgment. The real estate 
agency and brokerage business is one of the most active professions a man 
can engage in. As soon as a man becomes inactive, his business begins 

23 



to slip away so far as he personally is concerned, because your principal 
stock in trade is good will. The agent, unlike the merchant, has nothing 
on his shelves that the people need come to his shop to purchase. His 
business is usually built up by going out after it, so it behooves us all to 
build up a good reputation and guard that well as our greatest asset. 

You are also to bear in mind that you are in the business for the pur- 
pose of making an honest living. As a well known medical practitioner 
and professor once told a young friend of mind who was studying medicine 
under his instruction. He addressed him thus: "Gus, my boy, I am an 
old man and have been long in the harness; take an old friend's advice. 
Always remember first and foremost you are a physician to make a living 
for yourself and family; do that and the higher rewards and the honor 
will come after." If we may accept this as the common attitude of the 
medical profession, it seems to me that we can safely apply this rule to the 
real estate profession. 

The calling of the building manager is an honorable profession, and, 
moreover, it is growing in importance and distinction. This is indicated by 
the great and increasing number of real estate men engaged in the manage- 
ment business. The agent who works faithfully for his clients is held in 
high esteem by his patrons. He holds a confidential position towards his 
client not far removed from that of the attorney and counselor-at-law, and 
once his business is well established, his income is greater and generally 
more lucrative and constant, because his services are more continuous than 
that of either the attorney or the physician. The lawyer and doctor have 
to spend many years in study before they may seek a practice, and they 
often require years and years of patient waiting before they gain many 
clients. The field in business property management is constantly growing. 
It is practically a new branch of real estate business. The large modern 
buildings such as we may see around us today, where a large manufacturing 
business may be accommodated with tens of thousands of square feet of 
floor space on a single floor, were not dreamed of fifty years ago. 

The field is growing; opportunities are opening every day for the agent 
who is equipped to take up the work, but he must show a determination and 
the intelligence to perform a work of real value to the owner. The landlord 
is only too glad to hand over the burden to the man able and willing to 
handle the management of his property, provided he may at the same time 
escape these burdens and cares. Trials and disappointments will come. 
Tenants will sometimes make complaints of the most trivial character. 
As a rule it is best to attend to complaints promptly, because delay often 
tends to make the complainants still more angry; a little extra attention will 
often act as "oil on the troubled waters." Often the manufacturing tenant 
will blame the agent for everything that may go wrong, even his own short- 
comings and failures, but all these annoyances will soon pass away. It is a 
noticeable fact that few complaints are received when tenants are pros- 
perous and times are good. 

In dealing with tenants you should always endeavor to gain and keep 
their good will and confidence. Talk with them and show a neighborly in- 
terest in their business and success. Be always ready to perform any 
little acts of service. Try to make things as convenient for them as you 
can. Do a little more for them than is actually required, rather than less. 
By this means you will make them pleased to remain your tenants as well 
as boosters for you In getting other tenants into your buildings. A tenant 

24 



who is dissatisfied will leave you the first chance he gets and is liable to 
stir up trouble for you among your other tenants. For this reason, as I 
can state from experience, it is wise to go almost any length in reason to 
try to please your tenants. The agent who will invariably take this means 
will surely be a success in the management of property; he will be able 
to hold his property in his care and also find it a great help to him in 
securing other property to care for. He will be pleasing his tenants and 
at the same time do a great service to the owner, for whom he must work 
constantly and never forget that the owner pays the bills, and the owner's 
interest comes first always. An agent who is not always looking out for 
the owner's best interests is doing wrong; he is a traitor to his calling 
and should get out of the business at once, because he is false to every 
principle of honesty and will bring disrepute on the whole profession of real 
estate agents. 

It will often happen that the agent is called upon to make extraordinary 
repairs, especially in property, which supplies power to the tenants through 
machinery plants in the buildings. In all such cases it is usually a safe plan, 
after all your estimates are in, and you have carefully made up your mind 
as to the best course to pursue, to lay the whole matter before the owner, 
giving him your reasons for making the expenditure and your recommenda- 
tions of the bids you propose to accept. In this way you keep the owner 
informed as to what you are doing and how you propose spending his money, 
as well as his consent for incurring the bill. 

Every business and profession has some drawback. There is no vocation 
or calling where all is sunshine and roses and the agent of business prop- 
erty is no exception. It takes strong courage, buoyant hope and lively faith 
to succeed. You must have hope and faith in the future and courage to go 
forv.'ard to meet and overcome all difiiculties. 



25 



Proper Management of Buildings 

By W. H. Class 

I DOUBT if there is auy building manager who would admit that he is 
not operating the property in his charge in an economical manner; and 
yet the fact remains that there are many buildings costing more to 
operate than is necessary. This is principally the case where the property 
is owned and operated by the owner himself. As an instance I would men- 
tion a building that had been operated by the owners themselves for about 
twelve years. They lately placed it in the hands of an experienced agent, and 
the first year under this agent's management showed a saving of 20 per cent 
in the cost of operation. This meant that they had been going on, year 
after year, believing that they were receiving the greatest net income, 
whereas, they were, each year, really throwing their stockholders' money 
away. 

The greater number of properties under your supervision, the more eco- 
nomically each can be operated. The greater purchasing power due to the 
greater number of buildings, means lower prices for your supplies. This is 
also true to a lesser extent as regards repairs. To illustrate this I would 
mention a building that our office assumed charge of, where they had been 
paying a certain price for No. 1 buckwheat coal. On our appointment as 
agents we at once notified the coal company holding our contract (which in 
this case happened to be the same company then delivering coal to this 
building) that the building would, after a certain date, come under our con- 
tract. This alone resulted in a saving of almost $1,000 per year, and was all 
due to being able to demand a low price per ton on account of the large 
annual consumption. 

You must remember that the tenants in office buildings are business 
men, paying large rentals and demanding the best of service and attention. 
This is where the personality of the manager enters into the actual income 
on the property. A pleased and satisfied tenant usually means a longer oc- 
cupancy of the office by that tenant. The manager must, therefore, be one 
who is a good judge of human nature and dispositions, and able to know, 
when entering a tenant's office, whether this is the man that he must slap on 
the back and say, "Hello, old fellow!" or whether he is the one that must 
be approached with a bow, and a pleasant "Good morning!" The slap on the 
back in the second case would probably result in the loss of that tenant, 
the tenant believing that there was a "fresh" man in charge of the building. 
The slap on the back in the first instance would stamp him as a good fellow. 
I only mention this to show that it is quite necessary to study your tenants. 

Where there are a number of buildings under the charge of one person 
or firm, it is advisable that the manager refrain from entering too much 
into the small details. In my opinion it is a good plan to have one person in 
each building responsible to you for the condition of that building; you at all 
times keeping a firm grasp on what is going on. 

The aim of your work is, of course, the largest net returns for the 
owner. These net returns are affected by things other than the actual cost 

26 



of operation; for instance, costly construction does not always mean in- 
creased rents; as an example of this I would mention a building costing $1.25 
per cubic foot to construct where it is impossible to maintain a greater aver- 
age rental per square foot than in another building costing only 65 cents 
per cubic foot. This, you will see, gives the owner in the second case a 
greater net return on his property. It is my purpose to show that the cost 
of beautiful fancy carvings on the outside of a building cannot be collected 
from the tenant in rent. The ideal building is one that is substantially con- 
structed, not gaudy, but rather plain, with an absence of fanciness in the 
way of oddly shaped windows and balconies from which you derive no rental 
whatever. It must always be borne in mind that you receive your rent for 
an actual number of square feet within four walls, and the fact that there 
are imported tiles lining the interior courts will not permit you to charge 
a greater rental. 

It has become somewhat the practice, in recent years, for the architects 
of a projected office building to confer with the agent who is to operate the 
building, relative to the lay-out of the several offices, and to a certain extent 
as to the installation of the plant, especially as regards the number of ele- 
vators and also as regards all the small details in connection with the con- 
struction, with which the experienced office building manager is familiar. 
It must be remembered that the architect's and builder's duties end when 
the building is completed, and the building manager's duties commence 
where theirs end. The errors of any faulty construction or installation are 
visited upon the building manager. I have in mind a building where the 
architect, in order to make a fancy outside appearance, had the v/indows on 
two floors of the building so small that it was impossible for a person to see 
out of them without standing upon a chair. Now this was not due to any 
structural conditions which had to be overcome, but rather to make an im- 
posing looking building from the outside. Now, can you imagine receiving 
as great a rental per square foot for these offices as you would have received 
if the windows were of a normal size? I therefore maintain that it is a wise 
owner of a projected office building that consults with an individual or firm 
who has had experience in this particular branch of the real estate business. 

In operating your building it is essential, if you have not your offices 
upon the premises, that you visit it at least once a day, because it will be 
impossible for you to look after the interests of your clients properly if you 
do not know what is going on within the building. The employment of help 
in an office building is something that should be given careful consideration. 
Building employes must be of good appearance, courteous, and above all 
things must know that they are not to argue with tenants. There has been 
many a tenant lost from a building due to the apparent incivility on the part 
of an employe. When all is said, the building's reputation is made upon the 
service rendered. 

The service rendered to a large extent is by the employes that are on 
the premises, and not by the manager, who comes in contact with the tenants 
infrequently. The employes should in all cases be uniformed, and the uni- 
form should be kept in good condition. The usual employes of an office build- 
ing consist of a superintendent or janitor — in some cases the superintendent 
also being the chief engineer — an elevator starter, elevator operators, porters, 
scrub women or cleaners, assistant engineers, firemen, engine-room helpers, 
and night watchmen. The duties of these different classes of help are too 
well known to make it necessary for me to mention. The superintendent 

27 



should be held responsible for the actions of the help under him. You 
should compel him to report to you daily as to all occurrences in the building, 
or any complaints that the tenants may have made. It is unfortunate that 
the class of people available for porters and scrub women is what it is, and 
the only thing that I can suggest in the cleaning department is, that you 
have your janitor keep after them all the time, and if they fail to perform 
their duties, get new ones. 

The elevator service is a feature of the building which must be carefully 
looked after. If, when the tenant or visitor enters the ground floor there is 
a car waiting for him, in charge of a quiet, well uniformed operator, and 
if that car is in good condition and cleanly, that man gets a good impression. 
If, however, he enters the ground floor and has to wait some time for the 
elevator, his impression of the service of the building is very poor. So I 
therefore maintain that one of the first things that should be done is to see 
that your elevator service is as near perfection as possible. It is well to 
have a set of rules for your elevator operators, refen-ing to the operation 
of the elevators, cautioning them as to the opening and closing of elevator 
gates, so as to reduce to a minimum the possibilities of accidents, and such 
other rules as the occupancy of the building necessitates. It is wise, no 
matter how you pay your help, by the week or month, to in all cases have 
printed upon your receipts the following: "It is understood that my employ- 
ment is by the day." That will avoid any claim for a full week or full 
month's wages where the employe has been discharged during the week or 
month, as tne case might be. The necessity for liability insurance covering 
your employes while working upon the premises is, as everybody knows, 
absolutely essential. 

The purchasing of supplies for an office building is really a subject by it- 
self. The purchasing agent must be a man who is not susceptible to flatteries 
or suggestions on the part of salesmen. He should refuse to receive any at- 
tentions, such as lunches, theater parties, etc., as, in my opinion, the man who 
accepts these things from the party with whom he is doing business is never 
in a position to find fault with that man. Everything that is submitted in the 
nature of supplies should be tested. This can invariably be done without 
any expense, as the dealers are always willing to furnish a trial order gratis. 
This testing should be done by someone in whom you have the greatest con- 
fidence and who cannot be approached by the dealer. In buying supplies it 
must be remembered that the cheapest article is not always the best article. 

The selection of supplies should rather be governed by how much work 
can be done with the particular article and how much that work in the 
whole costs. This is not, however, true in all cases. I have found, for in- 
stance, that while soap powder at 3^^ cents per pound in the hands of the 
proper party will do more than twice the work of that costing 2% per pound, 
yet when these two soap powders are turned over to the scrub women they 
insist upon using as much of the higher price as they do of the lower price. It 
is almost impossible to prove to them that the same amount of work can be 
done with a less quantity of the higher priced powder. Of course, the volume 
of your purchases will, in a measure, control the cost of your purchase. The 
office that is able to purchase 50,000 tons of coal per year will necessarily 
be able to buy that coal at a less price per ton than the building purchasing 
only 5,000 tons per year. In the purchase of coal it is well to carefully 
look into the grades submitted. For instance, our oflfice is now paying 10 

28 



cents more per ton for coal than the price submitted by another party for a 
different grade. We have found by experience that the grade we are 
now using is more economical at this 10 cents advance than other grades. 
It is wise to occasionally have your coal analyzed, as we find that the grade 
varies somewhat, and all the talk possible to the coal company, and all the 
complaints made to them that the coal is not good, does not necessarily bring 
better results; but, if, on the other hand, you are able to tell them that by 
analysis their coal is too low in heat units, or too high in percentage of ash, 
you have something really tangible to work on, or rather, which is better, 
take the business away from them for a M'hile, and you will find, if you 
return to the same dealer, better coal will be sent you. It is better not to 
permit your engineer or janitor to purchase supplies. While it is not my 
intention to say that engineers and janitors are dishonest, I do not believe 
that it is well to place temptation in their path. Any janitor or engineer 
who receives a commission from a dealer is really taking that commission 
out of the pockets of the owner, as the dealer' in every case will eventually 
get it from the owner in the higher prices which he will demand for his 
goods. 

Repairs to a building should be, if not under your own supervision, in 
charge of a good practical man. As much work as possible should be done 
by the employes of the building. I find that it is economical in some of our 
properties to employ our own painters to do the work. At all times we can 
hire painters for less per day than the regular union rates. Buying paints in 
large quantities permits you to receive as low a price as a good many con- 
tracting painters. Part of the electrical work, such as repairs to wires, 
sockets, fans, etc., can be done by your own electrician. It is very seldom 
that you will have to employ outside help for your electrical work. Carpen- 
ter work, with the exception of the small jobbing, I believe can be done at 
lower cost by an outsider; in some buildings I have been able to place a man 
as porter, at the wages of $10 or $11 per week, who is what we call the 
"handy man," and is able to use a saw or plane, and, in fact, could do almost 
any small job that a carpenter would do. As long as we are able to retain 
these men we save considerable money. 

In asking for bids on any repair work, you should be sure that the 
specifications for the work are perfectly clear, so that each bidder will under- 
stand it. If you are not familiar with the drav.'ing of specifications, a good 
scheme would be to ask one man to figure on the work, being very explicit 
as to what he is to do, and then on the receipt of his proposition, you could 
copy his specifications, sending them out to others for bids. With work that 
is attended by any danger to life or limb, the order should not be given 
unless accompanied by a contract which is to be signed by the firm receiving 
the order for the work, in which they agree to indemnify the owners of the 
building and the agents, and holding them harmless against any and all 
claims, loss, damage or expense which they may sustain or incur by reason 
of personal injury caused to any employe or any other person during the 
execution of the work. 

Special attention should be given to the jobbing work in a building, such 
as carpentry and plumbing repairs, because it is in this jobbing that the 
contractor is apt to make a larger profit than he is really entitled to. I am 
speaking principally of the many times when it is impossible for lack of 
time, or other reasons, to get a proposal at a certain figure, it being neces- 
sary to give the order for the work on a time and material basis. We have 

29 



found that this is the time when the contractor, or rather his men, are apt 
to "loaf" on the job. 

There are, of course, a great many changes in partitions in an office 
building, the usual plan being to insist upon the tenant taking a sufficient 
term of lease to warrant the owner in expending the money incidental to 
these alterations. We have found it very convenient to do this work on a 
square foot price, the terra cotta or plaster block partitions being figured at 
so much per square foot, plaster finished on each side; door and window 
openings to be allowed for at one-half of their area; picture moulding, base 
and chair rail at so much per lineal foot; doors with and without transom 
above at so much per door. We also work under a schedule price per square 
foot with our painting. In measuring a room that has been painted, no allow- 
ance is made for windows or doors, the length of the room and height of the 
room being multiplied and the length and the breadth of the ceiling. With 
a view to doing work at a low price, painting is very often neglected, it 
being quite general to attempt to cover a formerly painted wall with one 
coat of paint. This I do not consider economical. It does not wash down 
as well, and the tenant is not as well pleased. I believe in always using 
four coats of oil and lead on a new wall, and two coats on an old wall. There 
are in the market many preparations that are mixed with cold water, and 
which are claimed by the manufacturers to do the work in one coat that 
any oil paint would do in two. We have experimented with these cold water 
paints, and have never found the economy claimed. 

The economies in a building are really the key-note to profits. A large 
rent roll avails little if the expenses on the building are high. When I speak 
of economy I do not mean the false economy where a repair is made quickly 
and temporarily, but rather the economy that comes from the expenditure of 
a possibly large sum of money, knowing that the return on that expenditure 
will be large. In this connection I might mention the introduction in the 
last few years of the new high efficiency lamps that have done so much to 
reduce the coal consumption in the buildings. We have never hesitated to 
spend large sums for the installation of Tungsten or Tantalum lamps, know- 
ing that within a short time our money would be returned to us. I have in 
mind one of our properties that expended some $2,000 in this change of 
electrical installation, which $2,000 was saved on the coal pile in eight 
months. In another building the expenditure of about $1,500 resulted in the 
saving in one year of over $7,000 in coal. 

The portion of the building that should be watched very carefully is the 
engine room. Your experience must teach you when it is economical to 
change the grate bars in the boilers to use a smaller size coal, thereby saving 
money; and also whether it would be economical, which we have proved in 
more than one case, to place some artificial draft system on the boilers. 
It is unfortunate that in many downtown office buildings the chimney draft 
is very poor, thereby requiring a greater amount of coal for the maintenance 
of a certain steam pressure, and at the same time reducing the capacity of 
j'our plant. Within the past year I have had installed in one of our build- 
ings a system of artificial draft which has made it possible to burn in this 
building number two Buckwheat coal in place of number one, as formerly, 
and without burning any greater quantity. As there is a difference, under 
our contract, of about 50 cents per ton, you can readily see that in this build- 
ing, which was consuming close to 14 tons of coal per day, the saving was 
considerable. If in your office there is not a mechanical engineer or a prac- 

30 



tical man, familiar with engine room work, it is well to connect yourself with 
some good concern who can make examinations and give advice on the con- 
dition of the engine room plant. I have found that while the greater num- 
ber of engineers in office buildings are good, practical men, they have not 
the theoretical knowledge which at times is necessary for the good of the 
plant. 

In connection with this I might mention an engineer who has been for 
some time in our employ, and who stated that it was absolutely impossible 
to bui'n in his building any smaller size coal than pea. We insisted upon him 
trying No. 1 buckwheat. This was about one year ago. He is still using 
No. 1 buckwheat, and the saving to the building has amounted to about 
$2,500. Now the trouble with this man was, that while he had the interest 
of the building at heart, he never had tried the No. 1 buckwheat, and was 
afraid to try it fearing that it would be necessary to shut his plant down. To 
avoid this contingency we had on hand pea coal that could be immediately 
tired into the boiler; but we, of course, have not found it necessary to revert 
to this size. By all means see that all of your engine room equipment, which, 
of course, includes your elevators, is kept in the best of repair. You will 
find that in the long run you will save money. The longer you neglect a 
repair on an engine, a pump or an elevator the more that repair will cost 
when you are forced to make it. 

There have been a great many discussions and articles written regard- 
ing the relative merits of the isolated plant as against the Edison service. 
It is not my purpose to go into any argument as to the merits of either. I 
might state that we have properties where we believe it economical to 
operate with the Edison service and the New York Steam Company's steam. 
Other properties, which are in the majority, we find it more economical to 
operate with our own plant. I believe that this is a subject that can be 
talked of forever. Circumstances govern each case. 

The building manager should be well acquainted with the tenants of the 
building. He should make it his business to occasionally visit the offices. 
These visits will tend to give the tenant the idea that the owner is putting 
himself out to please him. Each tenant should be impressed with the idea 
that it is the intention of the building manager to do all in his power to 
make it comfortable for the tenant. Complaints should be given careful con- 
sideration and the trouble should be promptly corrected. Of course there 
are many complaints made by the tenants, which are unjust and unfair, and 
there are also many requests made by the tenants which are unreasonable. 
In declining to do anything for the tenant it should be done in such a manner 
that the tenant will not feel that he is being neglected, or that the landlord 
is in any way arbitrary. Of course, this would depend largely upon the tact 
and diplomacy of the building manager. It is not a bad scheme to occasion- 
ally suggest to a tenant that his office requires painting. He will be sure to 
tell some one of this, saying that he has a landlord who does not wait to 
have his tenants request that their offices be painted, but rather walks in 
and suggests it himself. I do not mean to convey that it is well to go 
through a building with this form of proposition, but it is good to use it in 
certain cases where you believe that the building will eventually benefit 
from it, -^h;%| 

It was not my purpose to touch upon the collection of rents, but there 
is one thing which I feel I must mention. The office occupied by the tenant 
who is in arrears must be lighted and cared for the same as other offices in 

31 



the building where the tenants promptly pay their rent. The cost is just as 
much for the operation and care of the office of the poor-paying tenant as it 
is for the good-paying tenant, so I therefore contend that a vacant office is 
a much better proposition for the landlord than one occupied by the slow 
payer. One thing necessary to the first-class management of an office build- 
ing is that the offices shall be kept thoroughly clean. I have found that the 
greater number of complaints from the tenants in an office building refer to 
the cleaning of their offices. As I have mentioned, the class of help doing 
this cleaning is not of the best. It seems almost impossible to engage first- 
class cleaners. 

We have lately installed in several of our buildings portable vacuum 
cleaners, which we for a better name have called "kick regulators." These 
vacuum cleaners are not for general or daily use in the offices, but are rather 
used in individual cases where the tenant makes a complaint to the janitor 
that his office is dirty. If the vacuum cleaner is at once put in the office and 
the office is thoroughly cleaned, the tenant is a pleased tenant. 

In connection with the operation of office buildings some system of rec- 
ords is absolutely necessary. Without records showing a comparison of con- 
sumption of coal and other supplies, it is impossible, almost, to know that 
the building is being operated for the best interests of the owner. I believe 
that the best method is to have your engineers make a weekly report, show- 
ing the daily consumption of coal, oil and electric current, together with the 
amount of ashes removed from the building. 

I also believe in keeping a record of the cleaning cost, having the 
janitors of the building make a daily return of the goods received. When 
these same style goods are again ordered, you will at once be able to tell 
how long the former lot has lasted. For the purpose of computing the oper- 
ating expenses on new properties you will find that a complete set of records 
will be very valuable, as the cost of operation per square foot of rental space 
in the different buildings in New York should vary but slightly. 



32 



PART II 



Renting 



The Elements of a Renting Policy 

By Earle Shultz 

To keep and to get tenants; that's the problem. "To keep" takes prece- 
dence of "to get," because those qualities which are powerless to hold 
old tenants will never be able to attract new ones. Business men 
move, not for the love of moving, but to secure office homes in which they 
can remain indefinitely with pride and comfort. Of what is there in an office 
building for such men to be proud? Its reputation. And what therein con- 
tributes to their comfort? Its service. 

Reputation and service. These two words should form for every building 
manager the nucleus of his policy. To those buildings which shed a distinc- 
tion upon their inhabitants are tenants drawn most strongly. Let it be gen- 
erally known that only reputable people are admitted into a building and 
to all its occupants is lent the color of reliability. For this power of a build- 
ing to establish confidence in its inhabitants, superior and permanent tenants 
are desirous and willing to pay, and to pay well. 

But reputation must be backed up by efficiency of service. To its ten- 
ants and their customers a building owes all the aid it can logically render. 
The offices should be adapted to the business to be carried on therein; they 
must be kept scrupulously clean; and the wants arising from their use be 
taken care of promptly and effectively. 

Into offices tenants usually cannot be forced. The question of moving 
arises at infrequent intervals. At these times their aroused interest is 
known onlj^ to their friends. A good word from the ones who office with you 
will have more "pulling power" than any full-page advertisement. His friends 
a man knows and believes. Not only has he admired their offices in your 
building, but the smoothness and courteousness of your service to the gen- 
eral public has been appreciated by him. There lies dormant in some fold 
of his mind the idea that he would like to be in your building. And when 
the opportunity offers he presents himself at your renting counter. 

The great disadvantage of an aggressive solicitation of tenants is that 
where you appear anxious to rent your space, they force you to bait them 
with costly concessions in price, or else assume unexpired leases. If you 
need tenants that badly, all right. If not, allow your building to pull as much 
as possible for itself. 

Concessions, if made, should not be in rates, but in time. If the rate is 
cut there is a loss not only during the term of the lease, but on renewing 
it will be found next to impossible to bring the rate back to the normal. 
The justice of an increase is never seen by the tenant, and if insisted upon 
he either moves or holds a grudge against you. A better way is to compute 
the total amount of the cut in months of rent and give that many free, with 
the normal rental after that period. In this way you pay no more 
for the lease, while on its expiration a normal renewal rate has become es- 
tablished. However, there is little wisdom in making concessions under any 
circumstances. 

Tenants should be allowed to do their own renting. That is, the renting 

35 



man should not push them into an office by force of hypnotic salesmanship. 
A traveling salesman can use that method and then leave town. But your 
tenant you have with you until his lease is up. If he should come to feel 
that he has "had one put over on him" he will be anything but a comfort 
and an asset to that building. 

To assist the prospective tenant in his search for an office is the duty 
of the renting man. He should see that the applicant gets a clear under- 
standing of the space shown him, both from the renting plan and from the 
premises themselves. All the conditions of the tenancy, such as term of 
lease, services charged for, etc., should be explained. A wrong impression 
as to space should never be given. If the light is secondary, say so; and 
state further that the price has been scaled down to meet the condition. 
There are men looking for that very arrangement. If the one before you is 
not, he would never be satisfied there. 

The most effective "trick" of renting salesmanship lies in showing the 
prospect how advantageously the space under consideration adapts itself to 
his use. When he objects to a suite because he cannot do so and so in it, 
the renting man must at once point out the methods of accomplishing that 
very thing. Once convinced that an office completely fulfills his requirements 
the looker becomes a tenant. 

The zenith of efficiency in space-selling is reached when an applicant has 
been convinced that either the present division of the space, or such a 
division as you are willing to make, is much superior to any other possible 
arrangement. One tenant may wish his private offi.ces but nine feet in depth; 
while the next will insist upon their being eleven. Now as a matter of fact 
a ten-foot office will do perfectly for each of them if they are shown how 
the foot more or less neither adds to nor detracts from the usefulness of the 
room. Many of a tenant's ideas of alteration are mere notions, and often 
they would be a positive disadvantage to himself if carried out. In other 
words, the renting man has, in a systematic and rigid standardization of 
alterations, his greatest opportunity of effecting a considerable saving in 
operating expenses. 

Beside the acceptance of tenants there is no point in the management 
of a building which is so vital or which requires the exercise of such good 
judgment. Good tenants may be secured along with the bad while a building 
is new and has not as yet acquired a character; but as soon as get-rich-quick 
advertising goes out and it becomes known that the building houses ques- 
tionable concerns, the desirable tenants will leave and rents will fall off 
with their going. 

In passing upon an application the building manager must take a point 
of view different from that taken by a commercial credit man or a bank. It 
is the applicant's personal and business, rather than his financial, reputation 
which is of prime importance. Naturally the building must have its rent, 
but if the applicant is worthy — say a reputable young attorney just starting 
out for himself — the building is often justified in "going into partnership with 
the tenant" so far as the rent is concerned. 

The best of all sources of information are the credit agencies, par- 
ticularly those that make a specialty of watching questionable concei-ns. The 
next best is the bank reference, which is of course good as to a firm's 
finances. Poorest of all are personal references, unless the persons referred 
to are known and reputable individuals. 

The length of lease a building may require must be governed to a great 

36 



extent by local conditions. Leases of three to five years, however, are, where 
possible, most satisfactory. For a minimum length of term several factors 
favor three years. A great deal of rearrangement and alterations in an 
office is usually demanded by those tenants who can pay good rentals; and 
such changes a building cannot afford to make for anything less than a three- 
year lease. Conversely, tenants who refuse to take a long term lease are 
not as a rule the best of tenants. The three-year lease thus has a selective 
effect. 

To a large building that had only one-year leases the renewing of its 
entire rent roll would be an annual burden of considerable size. Further- 
more, it would be impossible to re-rent at once from the date of expiration all 
space given up. Some of it is sure to stand idle for a time. 

The largest benefit of three-year leases, some of which expire each year, 
is the permanency which they give to the rent roll. For instance: during the 
panic of 1907 a large number of tenants, frightened by the financial depres- 
sion, wished to take smaller quarters. Learning they could not get off their 
long-term leases, they settled down to make the best of it, with the result 
that before their leases had expired tne crisis had passed and they found 
themselves needing all their space. No risk is run by the manager of having 
his building full one year and half-empty the next. Nor will the manager of 
a new building, finding your tenants footloose, be able to pull a great number 
of them into his quarters. 

Unless the growth and development of his concern is absolutely limited 
no business man is prophet enough to know what he will need in offices five 
years hence. His company may want more, it may need less, or it might 
decide "to move its headquarters to another city." Even if they still use 
the same amount of space, changes in their methods may demand a different 
kind of space and so a move. It is just the large concerns that want long 
leases because of their size, that are the most subject to these changes. The 
result is that not more than two out of five long term leases are ever lived 
out. Then why make them? They are no safeguard against a large con- 
cern moving out, and the chances are that when they do leave, they will find 
some way to make you go to the trouble of re-renting the space for them, 
instead of for yourself. Or they will secure the new tenant, if you do not, 
and, in a majority of cases it will be some one whom you do not care to have 
in the building; for the big concern is interested only in getting the lease 
oft its hands. 

Whether all leases should expire on one date or at the end of any month 
must also be determined largely by local conditions. If the majority of leases 
in a city expire on, say, April 30th, that building manager whose leases expire 
irregularly will find himself without applicants for offices vacated during 
the dull renting season. The one date expiration system often serves to 
make space more available. If a building is practically filled it is difficult to 
take care of growing tenants except at the expiration period when they can 
be given first choice of the space coming vacant. Then, too, adjoining offices 
can be consolidated to take care of large applicants who could not otherwise 
be received. 

In drawing leases it is well to keep them as simple and as free from 
special clauses as possible. It is the surest way of avoiding legal tangles. 

All alterations to be made in offices should be explicitly understood by 
both parties at the time of the signing of the lease. A simple method of 
insuring this is as follows: Draw a ti'acing of the offices showing in black 

37 



lines all of the old work that is to remain; in dotted black all that is to be 
removed; and in red all new work. If any irregularities are to be permitted 
they should be noted on the tracing. If the tenant is to pay for any part 
of the work this fact also should be stated, together with the basis on which 
the charge is to be made. The tracing can then be O. K'd by both parties 
and made a part of the lease by the insertion in that document of the fol- 
lowing clause: "The lessor agrees to divide the premises as per plan signed 
by the respective parties thereto." From the tracing can be made blue- 
prints to serve as working plans for the construction gangs. 

The renting office of the building should be well located in light space 
and easily accessible from all points of the l)uilding. The first stop of the 
express elevator is a good floor. To stick the office of the building away in 
some dark corner is a mistake. If this office is gloomy and unpleasant it 
creates in the mind of the prospective tenant a bad impression against which 
the renting man will have to fight. 

The renting equipment should be as simple and self-explanatory as pos- 
sible. A set of plans and a descriptive booklet with a typical floor plan on 
which to sketch offices shown, are about all that is necessary. A practical 
method of handling the renting plans is as follows: From a tracing of each 
floor, on which is shown the exact arrangement of the offices and the names 
of their tenants, black-line prints can be made, which, when mounted on 
cloth, may be assembled in a loose-leaf style of binder. The advantage of the 
black-line print is that the lines on it can be erased by a fluid and any 
changes made on a floor drawn in in black India ink. As the paper is very 
tough, even this ink can be erased, so that the plans will last for a number 
of years. Indicate the vacant offices by a pencil cross over the space with a 
notation of the price of the suite. 

The booklet, to be of real value both as a souvenir and as an advertise- 
ment, should consist mostly of pictures with the reading confined to answer- 
ing the general questions usually asked by an applicant at the renting coun- 
ter. Only one floor plan for each different typical floor arrangement will be 
necessary in the booklet. 

It is a good plan to have all vacant rooms on one key. With locks of 
the cylinder type this is easily accomplished by having in stock a number of 
identical cylinders, one of which may be exchanged for the regular lock 
whenever a room becomes vacant. This saves the renting man a lot of labor 
and annoyance as he can always have one of the "vacant" keys with him. 

The most satisfactory method of handling a tenant who wishes to give 
up his space is simply to tell him that you will do what you can to re-rent 
his office for him. Then put it on the renting list and dispose of it as soon 
as possible. In this way you not only get a strong and satisfied tenant in 
place of a weak and uneasy one, but you extend the period for which the 
space is rented. You are also able to select the incoming tenant with great 
freedom. Of course alterations required by the new tenant must be paid for 
by the old, and in this the building further gains. 

And right here is the very best of all chances to raise your rent rate. 
Unless the old tenant is on the point of bankruptcy, always ask a little 
more for the space than he is paying. You are in no special hurry to dispose 
of it, so that you can afford to wait for the customer who is willing to pay 
the new price. In one building this method alone increased the rent roll 7 
per cent in three years. 

38 



Perhaps the most ungracious task a manager can be put up against is 
that of asking one tenant to move for the benefit of another. And it is a 
problem for the solution of which the building pays more than enough. If 
possible make the tenants negotiate with each other, the building only com- 
ing in to show the displaced one new space. 

Often tenants desiring additional alterations before the end of their 
lease will offer to renew for an additional three-year term in payment there- 
for. In such a deal the tenant is getting the best of it if he still has more 
than a year to run on his original lease. 

Sub-tenants are the bane of a manager's existence because they are the 
hardest to manage. In addition to refusing to countenance sub-letting it is 
a good plan to secure the services of a clipping bureau and in this way keep 
a line on all advertising going out from the building. If any objectionable 
ones turn up — most of wTiich will be from sub-tenants — insist upon having 
them stopped or modified, or even take steps to eject the undesirable parties. 

A great many devices in the way of automatic renewal clauses have been 
inserted into leases in the attempt to trap the tenant into keeping his ofiice. 
These are all bad. Any tenant who wishes to leave should be allowed to 
depart in peace at the first opportunity. If he is held he will turn your 
profits on his lease into deficits through his negative advertising of the build- 
ing. Then, too, such clauses are of doubtful strength and are likely to lead 
a building into costly litigation. It is much simpler, safer, and in the long 
run, easier to have the tenant execute a new lease for the additional period. 

A renewal for less than three years is open to the same objection as a 
lease for a short term. Particularly applicable are the arguments as to dif- 
ficulty of handling year leases, chances of loss on final expirations, the non- 
permanent feature, and the inability of making alterations. All the condi- 
tions of the maximum limit also obtain in the renewal. 

Some buildings refuse to make any alterations on renewals. As a gen- 
eral rule, however, if a building can afford to make alterations on a three- 
year lease for a new tenant, it can well afford to do so for an old one. And. 
too, not nearly so many old tenants will require changes as would new ones. 

An option of renewal is of value to the tenant only. It ties up the space 
and the tenant has a hold on his habitation of the building no matter how 
undesirable he may have become. Nor does it guarantee an occupant for the 
space. 

Unless there has been some decided boom in rents, or unless a tenant's 
rate is much below the average, it is a dangerous proceeding to attempt to 
raise rents on renewals. Old tenants always feel that their term of rent 
paying entitles them to consideration rather than to extra charges. 

In brief, a building manager's policy should be composed of those ele- 
ments that will establish and maintain its reputation; that will solidify and 
make permanent its rent roll; and that will safely increase its receipts and 
wisely reduce its expenditures. 




39 



Filling an Office Building with Tenants 

By Alfred Higbie 

FROM the time excavation is started, and even from the time the report 
is first cii'culated that an office building will be erected, on a certain 
lot, in a good location, inquiries will begin to come in for space in 
the new building. These inquiries should be carefully filed and kept in 
alphabetical order so they can be referred to at a moment's notice. They 
should be followed up carefully, persistently and tactfully, until the prospec- 
tive tenant either signs a lease, gives a good and sufficient reason why he is 
not willing to do so, or you can see by his attitude that he does not care to 
continue negotiations any further. In the latter case, drop him at once and 
let him entirely alone. It's a good gamble, however, that he will come to see 
you when his lease expires. 

I am assuming that the building is now completed and ready for occu- 
pancy. If this is true aud the manager has been on the job watching things 
as he should have done, and looking for prospective tenants, making leases, 
etc., he has been a very busy individual. 

If the inquiries received for offices in the new building have been proper- 
ly nursed and the building is in the best location, at least one-half of the en- 
tire building will have been rented by the time it is ready for occupancy. 
When the building is fully completed and ready for occupancy and tenants 
are moving in at the rate of two or three per day (as they will for the first 
month or two) it is an extremely busy time for the man in charge. He will 
be wanted in half a dozen different places and on as many different floors at 
one and the same time. He will be wanted for this, that and the other 
thing, and to all the inquiries or complaints he must have a ready smile 
and give acceptable assurance that the matter in question will be adjusted 
without delay. 

This particular time is a critical period in the history of the building, 
when it will commence to make a reputation for itself, to prove or dis- 
approve the manager's statement, that he will give the best service of any 
building in tov/n. Right now is the time v/hen a broad-minded policy must 
be adopted and pursued if the manager expects to get and retain the good 
will of his tenants, as only by retaining their good will can he hope to make 
the building a success. If he loses the confidence and respect of his tenants 
he will lose the tenants at the expiration of their leases. 

Newspaper advertising in the local papers will produce good results. 
Classified advertising will do very little good. Plenty of space should be 
used, and the less reading matter you can use to bring out the most im- 
portant points the more attention it will create and the better results will be 
accomplished. Some one convenience or special feature about the building, 
or its equipment, must be displayed, or brought out in such a catchy manner 
that it will not only attract the eye, but hold it until the entire advertisement 
has been absorbed. 

If the building is located in a city or state which is the home of some 
great industry, get up a special letter and send to every large concern in 

40 



the United States which is directly or indirectly connected with the handling 
or disposition of the product of that industry. 

A nicely gotten up, short, clean-cut letter, sent out to tenants in other 
buildings, and who possibly have no thoughts of moving, will very frequently 
bring good results. From five to ten replies will be received out of every hun- 
dred letters sent out. These replies will come by letter, telephone, and some 
by personal calls. It is a good policy to follow up those letters from which 
no replies are received, with a personal call. Your letter will have brought 
the matter to their attention and as soon as you introduce yourself to a man 
who has received your letter, he will know where you are from and what 
your business is. 

I have used several letters, but the following is a copy of the letter 
which has brought the best results : 

"Are you willing to improve the location of your offices, improve the 
tone of your offices, improve your general surroundings if it doesn't cost you 
any more money? 

(The above paragraph appears in red.) 

"My Dear Sir: — That is the proposition in a nutshell. Are you inter- 
ested? 

"The Blank Building is undeniably the finest modern fireproof office 
structure in the city. It is located opposite the Smith Building and in the 
heart of the business district. 

"The offices — all outside rooms; the elevator and janitor service — kept 
to the highest degree of efficiency, combine to make your tenancy both pleas- 
ant and profitable. 

"Let me talk this matter over with you. I can make you a proposition 
that will surely be of interest. 

"My phone is .... 

"Very truly yours, 

"Rental Agent." 

You must not expect your letters to do the work for you. The most they 
can do is to introduce the subject by calling attention to the building and its 
equipment. The manager must follow these letters and do the actual work. 
There are several methods of giving publicity or securing tenants for a new 
building, but none that will produce the same results as personal solicitation. 
Careful, persistent soliciting will eventually overcome any prejudice or 
objection in the mind of the prospective tenant. When this is done and the 
man's confidence is secured, the rest is simply a matter of form until you 
have his name to a lease and he is comfortably located in the new building. 

While making the canvass, the manager should refrain, religiously, from 
making any misstatements. He is not only making a bid for patronage, but 
establishing a reputation for himself as well as for the building he rep- 
resents, both of which he must have in order to make the greatest success. 

Good service in every department is a very essential feature and should 
be made the first consideration. Good service will do more to hold your 
tenants and induce others to come in than any other one thing in connection 
with the management of the building. 

The best class of tenants help very much in establishing the standing 
and reputation of a building, as also does the first-class building help to 
establish and maintain the standing of its tenants. Be particular in selecting 

41 



the first tenants. If the best class of tenants are secured on the start they 
will help draw other good tenants to the building with very little effort on 
the part of the manager. 

If the office space proper is finished without any partitions and the 
tenant's needs are measured in square feet instead of so many offices, be 
extremely careful about the arrangement of the partitions which the tenant 
will want installed. Do not permit him, on account of some peculiar idea 
he may have, to place the partitions in such a manner that they will have to 
be rearranged before the office can be rented to another tenant, but by 
studying his business carefully an experienced manager can frequently show 
this tenant an arrangement that will not only serve his purpose to better 
advantage, but which will conform more closely to the general office arrange- 
ment, and which it will be unnecessary to change when the next tenant 
moves in. 

Carry your pockets full of floor plans and prospectuses of your building. 
Sleep and eat on the job and you will become so enthusiastic over it that 
every word you breathe in connection with the new building will carry 
conviction with it. 

If your building is rightly located, rightly planned, and a broad, clean- 
cut policy is adopted, there will be slight cause for advertising or soliciting 
as there are plenty of representative firms who can easily be induced to 
move if they can be shown a more advantageous location, or secure a better 
arrangement of their offices. 




42 



Determining a Rental Rate 

By F. H. Heywood 

I DO not know by what rule or method other managers have gone 
about the work of "rate making." In point of fact, I have never heard 
of any rule, and perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that a rule may be 
made to fit all cases, but I have a method which to me seems logical and 
which I have had the satisfaction of seeing worked out successfully, and so 
I give it here for whatever it is worth: 

First, I reach my final conclusion in the very beginning, doing the prob- 
lem backwards, as it were. I determine the total net income per annum 
which the building should yield to its owner from his investment, including 
interest while building, and I do this by consultation with the owner and 
by careful consideration of the city and its environments and the location 
and character of the building, as well as the prevailing rates of net income 
from investments in other property equally as staple and secure. 

Then I add to the net earnings or income, as determined above, every 
possible item of expense, every possible item of service which it has been 
determined to give, the cost of operating, the repairs, the changes to suit 
tenants, insurance, taxes, replacement of machinery and equipment, to all 
of which I add 10 per cent, and in some cases more, to take care of fluctua- 
tions in prices. 

(Note: — The estimating, before a building is completed, just what will be 
the total expense of operating it, is by no means an easy task, but while 
you are cautioned not to use other managers' figures generally, since they 
are not likely to apply with mathematical accuracy in your case, yet you 
may obtain much helpful information from them and from the reports and 
papers upon these subjects presented at the National Convention of Office 
Building Managers and published in the magazine. Building Management.) 

From the total sum thus obtained by adding net earnings to total ex- 
pense, I deduct the rental which I know I can get for the first or ground 
floor. This is usually pretty well settled in each city. I, of course, make 
due allowance here for possible vacancy and diffei'ence, if any, in the service. 

The basement may here also be considered, but this may prove to be a 
more difficult problem, and in some cases is wholly omitted from consider- 
ation. 

Allow 10 per cent of the total rentable area above the flrst floor for 
vacancy and possible loss of rents, in some peculiar cases more. This is 
simply a precaution for safety, and most building managers are able to show 
much better results than this might seem to indicate. 

Divide the resulting remainder by the total rentable area above the first 
floor in square feet. 

Multiply the result by the number of square feet in each room. 

The result will give you the average annual rental value of each unit or 
room if each were all equally desirable. Reduce this to a monthly rental 
price in round figures. 

Then proceed to add to the choice locations and more desirable units or 

43: 



rooms and deduct from the less desirable rooms. Here is where you must 
use every possible care to balance your ship, lest one or the other side 
become overloaded. 

The several items vi'hich go to justify differences in rates in different 
parts of the same building may be set down as follows: 

1st. The advantage of advertising upon the windows commanding a 
view of the principal street or streets. Though this is different in different 
cities and in different locations within the same city, yet instances may be 
noted where a corner room with windows facing two prominent streets and 
upon the second floor will rent for forty per cent more money than the same 
sized room at the same corner upon the sixth floor, and 130 per cent more 
than the average of the building, 300 per cent more than the low rate in the 
building, seventeen per cent more than the same room on the third floor 
and twenty-five per cent more than the same room on the fourth floor. 
Again this room commands seventeen per cent more than the one adjoining 
it upon the principal street and twenty-five per cent more than the room 
adjoining it upon the side street. The manager of the building under con- 
sideration tells me he has no trouble in getting from fifty to 100 per cent 
more rent for rooms which offer advantages for advertising the tenant's 
business, either by having windows facing principal streets or entrance 
doors facing the elevators. 

2d. Units or rooms with entrance convenient to elevators, or with the 
entrance directly facing the length of the corridor, in some buildings have 
an added value. 

3d. View and quiet. — The upper floor units nearly always command a 
higher rental, in some instances as much higher than the middle floor, as 
the advantages of advertising on the second and third floor is higher than 
the middle floor. There is everywhere a class of tenants willing to pay for 
the view obtained from their office windows and for the quiet obtained by 
height above the noisy streets. 

4th. Natural light. — In the west particular attention has been given to 
an effort to obtain natural light to each unit and, as a result, large areas 
have been devoted to light courts. Whether or not this pays is difficult 
to determine. I have at times been inclined to doubt it. You can nearly 
always flnd some tenants who are easily satisfled with artificial light if they 
can get a lower rental rate, and if you make your own current you can 
afford to simply figure fuel cost, when comparing extra cost of lighting these 
dark rooms, with what you can get for them. Of course, additional cost of 
construction and service must also be figured. But take a room on a light 
court with the view obstructed, as it must be, and very little, if any, natural 
light. At the bottom of the shaft you can get practically no more rent for 
it, because it has windows opening upon the court, than you could if it 
simply had good ventilation which can be had without the windows, and 
you have lost the space upon valuable ground for many floors in a court 
which might be yielding an additional income. The rental rate procurable 
from office space facing light has its effect upon rates of the new building. 
The owner, who is a good business man and who is building for revenue, will 
not overbuild your city with office buildings. The margin of profit is too nar- 
row for him to take the chance, unless he is pretty certain there is a de- 
mand for office space beyond the present and prospective supply in your 
city. 

Competition may be made the life of rates and it's up to you to simply 

44 



turn it in the right direction. Competition advertises, competition makes 
new customers, makes the man with his office over the corner grocery look 
for better space and better service. Competition makes your job, makes ii 
interesting and worth while, makes you a necessity. Be ready with all the 
arts of your best salesmanship to laud the new customer. Competition is 
healthy for you and your employer as well, so fear it not. 

What is there about the size of the unit which may affect rates? Per- 
haps we should explain — the unit is understood to mean the smallest rent- 
able area into which the building is divided. In some buildings this is "one 
room," in others the unit may consist of two or three rooms with oniy 
one entrance from the corridor. Hence it cannot very well be rented to 
separate and distinct tenants, but must be rented as a whole. 

Though dependent somewhat upon the class of tenants and their re- 
quirements, yet I think it is almost an invariable rule — the rate per 
square foot varies inversely with the size of the unit. And why is this, 
do you ask? It is because the man is an exception who will pay for more 
than he needs. His requirements are "just one small room," but he wants 
that to be fii-st-class and is willing to pay a good price for it. He goes to 
you and you offer him the smallest room you have, which is 15x24, 360 
square feet, $30.00 per month, or $1.00 per square foot. He comes to me 
and I offer him a room 10x12, 120 square feet, $20.00 per month, $2.00 per 
square feet. He takes my room because it meets his requirements and 
saves him $10.00 per month, though he pays me twice as much per square 
foot as he would have to pay you. If he wants two rooms, I still have you 
beaten, for I can offer two rooms as above, more symmetrical in size, each 
with a window to the street and each with an entrance to the corridor, 
and if I am so reckless as to cut my price per month to meet yours, I 
will still be getting $1.50 per square foot, where you are only getting $1.00 
per square foot. You cannot divide your space to compare with mine, 
for you must sacrifice at least one of the three attributes which I re- 
tain; you must sacrifice either symmetry or one window facing the street 
or entrance direct from the corridor, or natural light. But if there are 
two men who v/ish to become joint tenants of a unit, you can make a three- 
room suite of your unit at half my regular price per month. But if I meet 
your price per month I will be getting just as much per square foot as 
you. And on the other hand, while I may have to make some reduction if 
I wish to secure this tenant, I shall not have to meet your price, for three 
of my rooms will each be more symmetrical, each have windows upon the 
street, and each have direct entrance from the corridor. 

The above, of course, fit only the conditions and requirements there 
considered, and the rule in such cases certainly applies. 

The number of rooms per unit has its effect upon rates — though many 
single tenants are satisfied with one room, perhaps more of them like two, 
a private ofiice and a reception room. If your space is divided into units 
of two rooms, and mine into units of one room each, your monthly rental 
for a two-room suite will be less than mine and your square foot rate 
will also be less than mine. But if I offer the prospective tenant two rooms 
at my regular monthly rental, which is higher than yours, I shall be able 
to give better light and better view to each room, as well as two entrances 
to the corridor. My arrangement is better than yours. I ask more money, 
in most cases I get more. And nearly always make a better profit for the 
owner. 

45 



And this leads us to say to the owner and architect — if you wish to keep 
your building full and make it most profitable, arrange the space so we 
shall have a variety of goods upon our shelves to meet the requirements 
of, and sell to all first-class tenants, who may apply or be sought for 
by your manager salesmen. 

There is a thing which we have not yet considered which also has its 
effect upon rates, its tendency is neither to raise nor to lower them, but 
rather to bring the extremes toward each other. It becomes the great 
leveler of rates. It is the wide diversity in the requirements of tenants, — 
the varied and multifarious tastes of the many different species of the 
race of men who rent office space. Perhaps in some cases it may be 
called the idiosyncracies of tenants. One wants north light, as it is best 
for the eyes and less fiuctuating. Another desires south exposure, because 
he enjoys the sunhght. Another wants a view of the city and its streets. 
And another wants to be high enough to view the entire landscape, to 
see the green fields and running brooks, to broaden his horizon. Still an- 
other objects to views because they distract his attention and the atten- 
tion of his employes from their work. For the same reason some prefer 
the room on the court. Some seek the quiet and will take a dark room to 
get it. Another will stand for the noise and give up the view and accept 
the roar of traffic if he can but get a location where he may attract the 
eye of the public to the signs upon his windows. And so the many dif- 
ferent requirements, tastes and idiosyncracies of tenants affect the rates, 
but the infiuence thereon is a salutary and a happy one for the manager 
and the owner, because he is pretty sure to be able to meet most of them, 
and what may at first have seemed an undesirable unit, fit only for 
storage, may later prove to be just what some man wants and is willing 
to pay a good price for. 

And above and around and through all these questions which affect 
rates, after you have considered and digested and figured on all that it 
costs to operate, and every expense of service, of keeping your building 
in a tenantable condition, of repairs, renewals and alterations and all the 
other items of expense without number, you come to the many different 
interpretations of the phrase "fair dividends." This is the crowning item 
of all the many things which affect rates and depends entirely upon the 
individual landlord or owner. One owner will be satisfied with a net re- 
turn of three per cent, another with five per cent, another wants seven 
per cent, still another thinks his money should earn him ten or twelve per 
cent. I i 

Service — By this we mean all that is furnished without extra charge over 
the stated rental rate. It differs slightly in each building; practically all 
furnish heat and janitor service; most buildings include artificial light; 
many add to these towels and soap to each unit, electricity for fans, 
vacuum cleaning, polishing furniture and cuspidors, portable desk lamps, 
ice water and messenger service. The quantity, kind and quality of the 
service very materially affects the rates. And in the same breath, I say it 
affects the net income. For I believe it is a fact in every building in the 
country, the tenant is not charged with his full proportionate share of the 
actual cost to owner for the service given, in our modern office building. And 
yet service is the talking point, service is the tenant getter. Quick, prompt, 
proper, efficient and thorough service makes the building. And why should 
not tenants pay for service? Include it in the rental rate if you wish, but make 

46 



them pay for it as much as it would cost them if you did not furnish it, or in 
any event, as much as it costs you. I believe they would if you took them 
into your confidence and let them know what it costs. There is too much 
secretiveness about the business side of most office buildings. Most of your 
tenants think because you are charging them a high rate that your profits 
are larger than you are entitled to. If they only knew the narrow margin 
upon which you operate, their demands would not be nearly so exacting 
and excessive. The busy business or professional man who is your tenant 
will gladly pay you all the service costs you if you charge it in the rent, 
rather than be annoyed by the numerous small bills and the vexation of 
purchasing the same service from a number of sources. 

Then there Is the wasteful tenant, who abuses the privilege and the 
service because he thinks he wants to get all he can for his money. Now 
who is he robbing? Not you, if you have remembered him and figure the 
cost of service high enough. He is robbing himself and his fellow tenants, 
but he is making you perform an injustice; he is making you charge your 
careful tenant for what your greedy, careless or robber tenant wastes. 
Perhaps, however, every item of service can be properly charged in the 
rental rate with no great injustice to any tenant with the single excep- 
tion of artificial light. Among the questions I sent to Building Managers 
in various cities was — Should electric light be metered to each unit and 
charged for extra over rent? Nearly every reply was "Yes." Among the 
replies was the following, which is so very pertinent here, I shall give it 
in full: 

"Replying to your question, 'Should electric light be metered to each 
unit and charged for extra over rent?' we answer very positively, yes, 
and perhaps our experience as follows may be interesting: 

"A few years ago we were appointed managers of a certain office build- 
ing, containing also several store rooms used for mercantile purposes and 
a theater. We found that the rentals were all based upon the lessor fur- 
nishing water, heat and light. Upon analyzing the year's business just 
prior to our appointment, we found that the coal bill amounted to $5,600, 
which, from our experience, we immediately knew to be excessive. We 
therefore, invested in a few electric light meters of varying capacity and, 
unknown to the various tenants, applied the same, so as to measure the 
current used by each. After one month's use thereof we found the fol- 
lowing startling facts: 

"A druggist, whose monthly rental was $125, was using current which, 
if bought from the Commercial Lighting Company, would cost him $148. 

"Another tenant on the first floor of the building whose monthly rent 
was $150, was using $128 worth of current, if bought commercially. 

"A lawyer who occupied a suite of three rooms, was using current which, 
commercially, would cost him $28, whereas the rental paid for the rooms 
was only $42. 

"Several offices with a single occupant, whose rentals were $15 each 
per month, were using current at the rate of $3 to $5 per month, if pur- 
chased commercially. 

"These figures convinced us that the system was entirely wrong. Where- 
upon all tenants were notified that with the expiration of the leases then 
in force, they would be expected to pay for current used separately. We 
thereupon installed meters for all tenants, at an expenditure of approxi- 
mately $2,200. After one year's trial of this new method we reduced the 

47 



coal bill to $3,500 and received for current used from all the tenants the 
sum of $3,200. 

"The druggist had reduced his average monthly bill to $29. The lawyer 
above referred to had reduced his average monthly bill to $6.00. Another 
first floor tenant had reduced his average monthly bill to $32.00. 

Thus it w^ill be seen that the former method was very wasteful, and 
^hat the current was used without any thought on the part of the tenants. 
We have persisted in using this system in all buildings for which we 
are agents without complaint on the part of any of the tenants. 

"The average American citizen is always willing to pay for what he 
gets, and on the other hand is thoughtless enough to ride a free horse to 
death. The collection of the light bills has added no material expense to 
the cost of conducting the business. The chief engineer reads the meters 
and keeps the electrical fixtures in order. We charge the tenants at the 
same rate that the Commerical Lighting Company is willing to furnish the 
current for, which in our city now is a maximum of 8 cents per kilowatt. 
We furnish some of our tenants as low as 5 cents per kilowatt. The ar- 
rangement now in force is that when a tenant moves in we furnish him 
with new electric light bulbs throughout for each fixture in his office or 
place of business. When they need replacing he does it at his own ex- 
pense. The figures above should be conclusive as to the non-desirability of 
furnishing tenants with current for whatever purpose without measurement 
and without a fixed price." 

I believe it is time for building managers in each city to get together 
on these questions of service. Why should we destroy our net revenue by 
fighting over them? Let us compete as to quality, promptness and manage- 
ment of our service, rather than as to its quantity. 

The creme de la creme of all papers, giving statistics and valuable 
data, ever presented upon any of all the subjects of building management, 
is C. T. Coley's paper upon the "Gross and Net Cost of Operating to Gross 
Rents," presented at the 1909 convention of Building Owners and Managers 
and printed in the October, 1909, Building Management. Every man who 
has studied it has been benefited, and every manager should furnish these 
same statistics for his building to an official compiler of this organization 
for annual publication, and in such a way as to avoid identification or ex- 
posure of private business matters. If it is possible, and I believe it is, 
some uniform system of accounting should be adopted by all of the build- 
ing managers, which should be the same for each building, to the end that 
just and proper comparisons of each item of expense of operating and of 
the service and life of material and equipment could be made. So that the 
"deadly parallel" might be made a thing of real value, and our work as a 
whole brought to the very best state of perfection. 

From the data at hand and from other investigations, where the 
service is approximately the same in point of items or quality, I can see 
but little difference in the average gross rents per square foot as be- 
tween the North and the South, and the East, West and Central states. 
Where heat, light, janitor and other service is included, the lowest average 
"total gross" rent of any one building :reported is eighty cents per 
square foot. I am almost or nearly certain there are some lower than 
this. The highest average reported is $2.85. The greater number of 
individual buildings reported average "total gross" rents at around $1.00 
per square foot, only a very few above $1.25; outside New York and 

48 



Chicago, all reports received showed less than $1.75. In other words I 
find the location as to the section of this country does not vary the 
rate so very much and that it is the number of people passing the loca- 
tion, the congested commercial and financial and shopping districts which 
mostly varies the rate. 

The information obtained as to difference in rates due to differences 
in location in the same building is so meager as to make it impossible for 
me tq give you anything of value except as I have considered it else- 
where herein. In several instances in the same building, I find the high 
rate for space above the first floor equal to 300 per cent greater than 
the low rate, and about 100 per cent greater than the average rate, due 
apparently to facilities for advertising. 

What effect does the management have upon rental rates? Is a 
general rental agency, by controlling a number of competitive build- 
ings, in a better position to maintain rates, by destroying competition? 
It might seem so but the result of most of my inquiries lead me to the 
conclusion that in oflice buildings, as well as elsewhere, competition is 
the life of trade and has but little effect upon rental rates. As a matter 
of fact, it appears the personality of the manager, whether he be at the 
head of a general rental agency, or an individual manager, has more to 
do with the success of an office building than any one thing connected 
with it, except, perhaps, its location. 

A diplomatic, energetic and enthusiastic manager, will, by the very 
influence of his personality, maintain a satisfied tenancy and keep his 
building filled with high grade tenants. He is the man who v/ill organize 
his tenants into a veritable array of "boosters" for his building. He is 
the man who never loses an opportunity to "make good" to his tenants 
as well as to his employer, and who brags about his work and his build- 
ing, and who enthuses his tenants and employes to do likewise. He is 
the man who realizes that a good office neighborhood is just as impoi'tant 
and just as much sought for as a good residence neighborhood. That it 
is necessary to preserve this not only within his building as a whole, but 
upon each individual floor as well. He is careful to classify his tenants, 
locating like with like, and making each feel that he is on the best floor 
in the building, and that his neighboring tenants are of the very best. 

He is the man who gives service to both tenant and owner, gives it 
cheerfully and quickly, and denies it just as cheerfully and withal so 
diplomatically as to make the tenant have confidence in him, and in any 
event, to feel that he is being treated justly and with proper considera- 
tion. Thus he makes his building the talk of the town, the Mecca to 
which all eyes turn when looking for first class office space. Thus he 
maintains a waiting list of good prospects from which he may choose the 
best. And thus he not only maintains his rates, but is able to secure 
higher rates than any of his competitors. 

Success resolves itself into a question of honesty of purpose, energy, 
ingenuity, efficiency, enthusiasm, diplomacy and salesmanship, in which 
some make good, and others simply make good excuses. 



49 



Getting Tenants for a Building 

By C. A. Patterson ' 

THERE are many ways of filling a building, but the methods most 
in use are by personal calls, the prospectus, local newspapers, 
signs and brokers. 

The progressive manager gets the floor plans as soon as they are ap- 
proved, lays out a systematic plan of action. If the building is located 
in a financial section he can expect a majority of his tenants to be in 
this line of trade. Should the building be the home of a bank, that often 
proves very helpful to the renting man, as the conveniences of oflices in 
the same building as their bank will often appeal to prospective tenants. 

The first and most essential thing to do is to see in person or write 
every possible prospective tenant in the city and point out to him the 
advantage of having his offices in your building. The most successful 
managers state that the personal call is the most effective means of 
renting space. As the features of different buildings vary so widely 
each manager should have at his tongue's end several reasons why the 
space he has to sell is desirable. No renting man can succeed without 
having a foundation of salesmanship. 

By the time the building is completed a good prospectus ought to 
be sent out. 

Some of the men renting the largest properties say that there is not 
at the present time enough attention paid to the prospectus. Expense 
should not be spared to make this book a masterpiece of printer's art. 
It should stand as a worthy representative of a modern building. 

Of course, the exterior view and floor plans always appear, but be- 
sides this the best examples, show views of the corridors, illustrations 
of some offices, etc. 

It has only been of recent years that the manager has put real sell- 
ing talk into his prospectus. Formerly a simple statement of the service 
was apparently sufficient, but now we find such expressions as the fol- 
lowing: 

"You spend over half your life in your office. Why not have a pleasant 
and convenient one?" 

"The Successful Officeman, as well as merchants, have modern, well 
equipped places in which to do business. You owe it to your business to 
be in the Best Building in the City. It pays." 

"They say a man is judged by the clothes he wears. Do you not 
often measure a man's business by the same rule? You like to do business 
with the man who has a well lighted and convenient store or office." 

In the prospectus there is usually a description, pointing out the fea- 
tures and innovations installed, and an example of arrangement given. 
The type effects of this are lost as it is shown, but the logical sequence 
of the argument is the reason for reproducing it. 
THE BLANK BUILDING. 
Location. 

"Located at the northwest corner of street and avenue, 

50 



is in the 'new center' of the business of the city. Within one block 
either way on the same side of the street are located two of the largest 
dry goods houses in the city, and the two leading theaters. The highest 
grade mercantile stores and all the prominent office buildings and finan- 
cial institutions are located within a block of this location. This causes 
a constant stream back and forth to pass its entrance. It is the busiest 
corner in the city. 

Architecture. 

"It is of classic design, the exterior being of Bedford stone and gray 
repressed brick. The light color treatment, together with the plain, but 
massive and substantial type of architecture, makes it, by far, the most 
beautiful building in the city. 

Construction. 

"The framework of this building is the most modern type steel con- 
struction, all structural steel being protected against corrosion or fire 
by concrete and tile. The only wood in the building is the finish and 
hardwood floors, which are laid on tile and concrete sub-floors. 

Dimensions. 

"The building is twelve stories high, has a frontage of 200 feet on 

street and 108 feet on avenue. 

Entrance. 

"The main entrance is on street, through a lobby, thirty feet 

wide, finished in white Italian marble. The lobby, together with the 
beautiful marble staircase, is one of the handsomest entrances to any office 
building in this part of the state. 

Elevators. 

"Three of the newest type Otis traction elevators, equipped with the 
latest safety devices, will furnish continuous elevator service. 

"All freight and furniture enters the building through a sidewalk lift 

in street, and then is taken through the basement and up the 

freight elevator, so that at no time will the tenants be annoyed by having 
the main entrance or elevators blocked. 

Arrangement. 

"The corner room is occupied by The Trust and Savings Com- 
pany, which company also has large storage vaults in the rear part of 
the basement. 

"The Company, conducting a dry goods and department store, 

occupies a portion of the ground floor, part of the basement and all of the 
second floor. 

"The north v/est part of the building is occupied by the Theater, 

the leading playhouse in the city, access to which is through a beautiful 
entrance from street. 

"The front part of the basement, under the Trust Company, is re- 
served for a cafe. 

"The seven upper floors are used for office purposes. 

Interior Finish. 
"The interior finish, above the second floor, is mahogany. The floors 
in the offices are all hard maple. The corridor floors are tile, with a sani- 
tary cove base. 

51 



Light. 

"Every office room has outside windows, and the decoration of the 
walls has been done with the idea of getting such tones as will properly 
reflect the light. 

"The artificial light is electricity, and this system has been installed 
after designs from the most competent electrical engineers. In addition to 
the center chandelier, outlets have been placed in the baseboards, so that 
desk lights can be had at any point in the room. 

"Light will be furnished at all hours, day and night. 

Heat. 

"The building is equipped with the latest steam heating system, 
planned by competent engineers, and heat will be furnished twenty-four 
hours a day, including Sundays and Holidays. 

Toilets. 

"Each floor has toilet rooms for men and women. The fixtures and 
equipments in these toilets are the most modern and sanitary that can 
be secured. 

Water. 

"Each room is provided with a beautiful modern enamel lavatory, 
with hot and cold water. 

Service. 

"The janitor and elevator service will be maintained at the highest 
state of efficiency, and in the janitor work the most approved and sani- 
tary methods will be employed. The entire building will be cleaned daily 
by a vacuum process, for which the whole building is piped, thus insuring 
a well cleaned, dustless and sanitary office to each tenant. It is the aim 
of the management to conduct the Blank Building in a manner wholly 
satisfactory to the tenants, to maintain the highest standard of service 
in all respects. 

Other Conveniences. 

"Telephone outlets for both systems have been placed in the base- 
board at convenient locations about the rooms so that desk phone may be 
attached at any place in the room. 

"Mail chutes will be found on every floor. 

"All the windows are equipped with the latest Improved metal 
weather strips. This eliminates dust, draughts and other annoyances ex- 
perienced with the ordinary window. 

"Fhirther particulars may be had upon application." 

Very often the managers get out a series of strong follow-up letters, 
with which they bombard the prospects until they either close or learn 
that there is no hope of closing them, and supplement this with personal 
interviews as much as possible. 

During the last few years the renting signs have been given atten- 
tion. Some managers claim to have secured tenants by using out-of-the- 
ordinary renting signs. The personal appeal is made along this line. 
Rental Signs for Office Space. 
PRESTIGE GAINED BY A FITTING LOCATION. 
INSURE YOURSELF BY TAKING SPACE HERE. 

TAKE NO CHANCES ON HAVING YOUR QUARTERS 
OPEN TO CRITICISM. 

52 



ONLY THE BEST IS INEXPENSIVE. 
PROSPERITY COMES TO THE PROGRESSIVE. 

YOUR OFFICE HERB WILL DEMONSTRATE IT TO YOUR 
SATISFACTION. 

WOULD YOU LIVE IN A DARK, DINGY HOME? 

OVER HALF YOUR LIFE IS SPENT IN YOUR OFFICE. 

THIS OFFICE WILL APPEAL TO YOU. 

Rental Signs for Store Space. 

, 1,000 PEOPLE PASS THIS STORE ROOM 
EVERY HOUR. 

SOME MERCHANT WILL MAKE A FORTUNE IN THIS 
SPACE. 

WHY CAN'T IT BE YOU? 

ARE YOU PROGRESSING? 

TO GET A GOOD TRADE AND KEEP IT A SUITABLE STORE 

MUST BE PROVIDED 

LET US SHOW YOU THIS. 

DO YOU REALIZE THAT DOING BUSINESS HERE WILL 

MAKE SOME MAN THE LEADER? 

ASK US ABOUT IT. 

In selecting a tenant for your building the character of his business 
ought to be carefully looked into. There are several good reasons why 
this is advisable. Primarily the manager should satisfy himself that 
the prospect has the financial rating to take space, of course, but besides 
this, consideration should be given as to whether or not he will make a 
tenant that will increase or reduce the standing of the building. 

One of the most prominent renting men of New York made the 
statement that if he would see in the daily paper an advertisement of a 
wild cat mining scheme or a radical industrial promotion giving his build- 
ing as an address he would consider it an injury to the dignity of his 
property from which it would never recover. 

Another manager in talking about his tenants compared his build- 
ing with a city. He said: "I consider every corridor a street and make 
an effort to keep the neighborhood popular with high grade business 
men." 

In former years the janitor was sent to show space, but now the 
managers have learned that it is best to show it personally or if unable 
to do this have a live renting salesman do it. Very often there are fea- 
tures about a suite of offices which will be the means of closing the lease 
but if these advantages are not pointed out they may slip the attention of 
the prospect. 

A manager should study his building as a salesman studies his goods. 
He should be able to answer any question instantly and give reasons whj» 
that particular office should be rented by this very prospect. 

A practical insight into the business of the prospective tenants who 
come to look for space often is of great help to the renting man. 

The manager has three arguments which can be made more or less 
elaborate depending upon the building and his own originality, Loca- 

63 



tion always makes a good talking point, the special features are another 
and the service last but by no means least. In fact it Is said by those 
having the least amount of vacant space that service does more toward 
keeping tenants than anything else. Old buildings often keep tenants 
at a good rental rate with new buildings in the neighborhood bidding for 
them at even lower prices. 




54 



The Renting Department 

By C. F. Noyes 

PROBABLY no department of the real estate profession requires 
more careful, persistent and expert attention than the leasing end 
of the business. That is, if a real estate firm is to be successful 
in this branch of its work. And, being successful means securing for their 
clients, who are the owners of the buildings intrusted in their charge, the 
maximum rentals that can be obtained consistent with securing good 
tenants and keep the building filled. A real estate ofiice must keep in 
mind the fact that the fully rented building is not always the sign of a 
well organized renting department. But a fully rented and well rented 
building is such a sign. 

Right here, I would like to discuss some of the conditions regarding 
the management of successful buildings, whether ofiice buildings, store 
and loft structures, or apartment houses, that lead up to the successful 
renting of such structures, but I do not cai*e to digress too much from my 
subject of leasing. Therefore I shall only refer to the fact that an agent 
thoroughly trained in handling any certain class of property can usually 
advise the owner more expertly regarding the proper improvements to 
be made to his property than any architect or builder. And before the 
leasing men of any oflBce take up their work, expert knowledge is of 
great value. If an ofiice building is planned, the agent with years of 
leasing experience should be consulted on such matters as dividing the 
ground floor of the building into desirable stores, the layout of the vari- 
ous ofiice floors, the light arrangements and a hundred and one vital 
points that go to make up a building that can be fully and successfully 
rented. This applies also to the modern loft structure, the apartment 
house or the tenement property. And it applies more strongly to the 
Btore and loft building, because owners of this type of property seldom 
realize the maximum rental value from such buildings unless they con- 
sult with a live renting agent in the district in which the property is lo- 
cated and capitalize this renting agent's suggestions regarding minor 
improvements that will make the building more valuable from a rental 
viewpoint. If a store and loft building is located on a busy thoroughfare, 
the well trained agent who has served a faithful apprenticeship as a rent- 
ing man can often make suggestions which, put into effect, will greatly en- 
hance the rental value of the property. Many buildings in our charge 
are painted once or twice a year. Many of them are painted white. A 
foolish color scheme, the owner says when first the proposition is sug- 
gested. But this color, which needs replenishing once or twice a year, 
gives a cheerful, businesslike appearance, makes renting easier, and pays 
a splendid return on the investment. The lowering of the ground fioor 
to the level of the sidewalk; the high, dry and airy basement often used 
for retail purposes; the installation of modem show fronts and show 
windows; the proper lighting fixtures; a little metal ceiling here and 
there; the handsome wood trim; the touch of mosaic tile at a store en- 

65 



trance — these are common sense requisites that the well trained leasing 
man thinks of the moment a building is placed in his hands to rent. The 
renting agent must see beyond the outward appearance of the building 
that he has for rent — his first thought must be, how can these premises 
be improved at a reasonable cost to secure the largest possible income 
return for the owner? In well located store property, the experienced 
leasing man often knows how a large store can be divided and rented to 
several tenants for much more than one tenant has been paying and 
much more than any one tenant could afford to pay. Experience is the 
one great teacher in this part of the business. And the head of the 
renting department of an office to expertly advise his clients on these 
matters must have a long experience in the district, and must know the 
business firms in that district, the rents the various lines of business can 
afford to pay, and then arrange his building or store to meet the demand- 
of the neighborhood, always having in mind the necessity for securing 
the greatest possible, yet consistent, income for his client. 

I have seen store rentals increased from $5,000 to $12,800 per annum; 
buildings from $3,000 to $5,800; lofts from $1,200 to $2,400 in districts 
where values were not jumping, but simply by using common sense and 
good judgment in advising the owners to make certain minor changes 
which should have been made long before, and in every case the new 
tenants were more contented and better satisfied under the new and 
improved conditions than were the old tenants who were paying a 
much lower rent. Our experience in this matter is the same as that 
of all other well organized renting offices. 

The success of the man taking up the leasing end of the real estate 
business depends very largely upon himself. First of all he must take 
up the business in a serious way, intending to make it a science and a 
study as much as possible. He must be alert and on the lookout every 
moment. I cannot imagine any renting man who does not always think 
of his business and who does not Involuntarily note all changes occurring 
in the various neighborhoods through which he may be passing, either 
on business or pleasure or on travel. A successful renting man must 
instantly know for what class of business premises should be offered that 
he has to rent, and he should know the firms to whom the property should 
be submitted. He should always notice and learn from the successful 
store merchants the type of premises that such merchants select, and 
when similar premises are offered for rent these merchants should im- 
mediately be seen and other similar lines of business should be care- 
fully canvassed. The successful renting man must have a general knowl- 
edge of rental conditions throughout the entire city. If he is offering of- 
fice building space for rent, he must be able to tell the prospective tenant 
the rental asked in all the prominent and high class down town ofiice 
buildings, as well as the lower priced buildings, and then if requested 
must be in a position to give fairly accurate information on up town office 
buildings and even regarding the semi-office buildings such as have been 
erected in the Fourth Avenue section in New York. He must know the size 
and character of the space offered in all of these various buildings, the serv- 
ice that is given the tenant by the owners of these buildings, and be in 
a position to answer in an intelligent way all questions that may be asked 
him regarding the subject. In these busy days, the active business man 
will only deal with the one who knows. Information must be given quickly 

56 



and any evidence on the part of the renting man that he does not under- 
stand his subject thoroughly often proves fatal. If the renting man is 
talking loft space to large manufacturers, he must have a fairly good 
idea of the relative rentals on the extreme west side, the extreme east 
side, the better class of loft space in the central part of the city, as well 
as a general idea of what is being offered in Jersey for manufacturing 
purposes, or in the Bush Terminal buildings located in South Brooklyn. 

This is the age of specialists and to be successful the renting man 
must know the subject of leasing and he must be able to tell his cus- 
tomers everything about the property he is offering as well as other 
similar properties in other locations. I well recollect when I first came 
to New York that this was so apparent to me that I took a memorandum 
book and on my hands and knees secured the inside measurements of even 
the smaller lofts that we secured rental particulars of. I figured out the net 
space on the floor, learned the height of the ceiling and even made a note 
of the number of windows that the loft had and whether there was an 
elevator, an electric hoist or a regular hoist in the building. I did this so 
that I would memorize the property and be able to better describe it when 
offering to a prospective tenant. And I believe if this was more fre- 
quently done, better results would be obtained by the renting man. 

I have repeatedly used the term experience in connection with the 
successful renting man. I cannot too strongly emphasize this. The rent- 
ing man to be successful must have long experience. Only long experi- 
ence will teach him accurately the relative values of properties in various 
districts, where the tenants are and how to get them. Only experience will 
teach him how to attractively offer his proposition, to close his deal and 
not let a likely and logical customer slip through his hands and lease 
premises through a competing ^gent. He must start at the bottom and 
work up. He should go through the various departments and serve an ap- 
prenticeship in each. I would like to explain the duties of each department 
in detail, but will hurriedly pass through them. And I will refer only to the 
work done by the renting department of a well equipped office in the matter 
of securing property for rental purposes and renting successfully what it can 
of such properties. I do not refer to management, where there is much 
greater thought and work. 

It is obvious that a successful renting office must have as much prop- 
erty as possible to offer prospective tenants in the district in which that 
office operates. And it must have this property as soon as it comes on 
the market for rental. This requires the services of a listing man. It is 
his duty to secure at least once a week a memorandum of all vacancies. He 
fills out a special slip for each building, store and loft that he finds for 
rent. These slips give general information regarding the character of 
the building and the space that is offered. They are turned over to an 
office man who fills in the size of the building from our maps, the owner's 
name and address, together with any other information that we may have 
in our plant regarding the building. These slips are immediately divided 
between two or three solicitors whose duties are to personally interview 
the owners and secure full particulars. Except in rare cases, letters are 
not written, because a personal interview is preferable. If particulars 
are secured the report is given to the renting man having charge of and 
being directly responsible for the results of the business in that district 
in which the property is located, and it is up to this renting man to in- 

57 



spect the premises, get accurate measurements of the space offered, and 
after noting all conditions he makes out another slip from which a renting 
card is made and this card goes before the office manager with the pre- 
liminary report. The listing man's report and the solicitor's report were 
originally made out in duplicate, so it is impossible for any delay in secur- 
ing the final data. 

Possibly a "to let" sign is to be put up on the premises offered for rent, 
and this requisition must go before other men to be properly checked, and 
the sign must be up the day it is ordered. Incidentally, these signs must be 
checked up at least every other week and at stated intervals reports must 
be made by the sign man and by the sign checker as to the condition of 
the signs, the number of signs up and the number of signs in stock. After 
the property has been listed the real work of the leasing department has 
just commenced. 

A memorandum of every listing goes before the office manager, the 
renting manager of the office and the head of the firm. A copy of the 
property offered, if the premises are desirable ones, is sent out to all rent- 
ing men, and this gives all an equal chance to capitalize their knowledge 
of the renting by securing, if possible, any tenant whom they think would 
be interested in such premises as are offered. As these records come 
through the oflSce from the listing man and the solicitor, the office manager, 
the renting manager and the head of the firm make a note of such prop- 
erties as appear to be desirable premises. 

They confer regarding them. The draftsman of the office, and every 
office of size now has one, or more, is sent to the building or premises 
offered, and a thorough report is made as to its condition, possibly floor 
plans are drawn and often diagrams showing the neighborhood and the 
firms located in the district. The property is then turned over to the 
man having direct charge of the district in which it is located, with sug- 
gestions as to how it may be handled to advantage. Some letters are 
written and many personal calls are made on firms that can possibly use 
such space. All letters are followed up, but naturally the more likely pros- 
pective tenants are seen first. 

Every stage of this department of the business is an interesting one, 
and if a renting office is well balanced, every one contributes something to- 
wards the success of the man actually securing the tenant. 

Even with the tenant secured, all the work necessary to the earning 
of the commission has not been done. References must be looked into and 
leases must not only be drawn but they must be signed. Here again ex- 
perience comes into play, because it often takes a well trained renting man 
to get the owner and the tenant to agree upon the form of the lease. 

One of the greatest problems of the real estate office today is 
that of fixing the compensation for the renting man. The very nature of 
the renting man's work makes it extremely speculative. A few large 
transactions will often increase a man's normal yearly earning capacity 
two-fold. He should be paid in proportion to the services he renders his 
firm, and it is self-apparent that it is often difficult to tell in advance exactly 
what he should receive. For this reason the commission basis is largely 
in vogue in most offices, modified by a reasonable drawing account, which 
is usually along the lines of a guarantee. The objection to this commis- 
sion basis is the fact that in a large office where there are a number of 
renting men, a commission basis often leads the renting man to attempt 

58 



to carry more deals than he is capable of properly following, and often 
good business is lost on account of pressure of other active business, the 
man having not had time to properly follow it. And in this connection, I 
cannot too strongly state that a live, active renting negotiation, no matter 
of what size, must be followed closely and persistently to insure a suc- 
cessful termination of the negotiation. 

Personally, I believe the time is not far distant when all real estate 
offices doing a business of large volume will handle their entire organiza- 
tion along co-operative lines, and permit all employes to share in the profits 
of the ofnce, and one reason for this is the fact that the renting men are the 
men who more than any one else are directly responsible for the success 
of any firm. Our office is now organized along co-operative lines. We be- 
lieve we pay our renting men as well as our other employes salai-ies con- 
sistent with their earning capacity, and in addition to this, every one in our 
olflce, including our office boy, porters, sign man, stenographers, book- 
keepers and accountants, will receive a part of our profits. Under this co- 
operative arrangement our renting men will receive that proportion of our 
profits to which their services entitle them, and payments will be made in 
proportion to the success of their efforts. And I want to say that I believe 
the continued success of any real estate office is dependent more largely 
on its renting department than any of the other two or three departments 
which must necessarily be maintained. 




59 



A Specialized Building 

By Charles Fellowes 

As the subject of specialized renting is an unfamiliar topic to the 
majority of building owners and managers, there having been so 
little discussion of this method of renting space, some facts in con- 
nection with the Reliance Building of Chicago, covering one of the special- 
ized lines, may be of interest. 

With the exception of a limited number of dentists, this property above 
the first floor is devoted exclusively to physicians, very nearly three hun- 
dred having ofRces therein. The building is located at State and Wash- 
ington streets, diagonally opposite the great retail store of Marshall Field 
& Co. The building, which is modern in every particular, has fourteen 
floors, with a lot dimension of 56x85 feet. The store room on the first floor, 
about 391/^x83^ feet, including basement, is occupied as a drug store and 
is leased for a long term at an annual rental of $40,000. Ordinarily the 
publication of rentals might perhaps be considered as violation of good busi- 
ness or renting principles, but conditions on State street are exceptional, 
and managers of properties thereon seem to have no special reason for 
reticence in discussing them. The rental just stated, which is less than 
is paid for space in some other cases, is mentioned with the thought that 
it may be interesting to some who are not familiar with the conditions in the 
great shopping center of Chicago, in which district the rents paid for store 
space are higher than those secured in any American city. This is due 
to the centralization of the large retail stores and other interests. 

As previously stated, the space above the first floor is rented to several 
hundred physicians. Three forms of lease are made: First, a term of three 
or five years for all-day occupancy; second, a term of three or five years for 
half-day occupancy; third, a term of two years for occupancy for one or 
more hours per day, under which plan the offices are furnished and 
equipped by the building, the completeness of the equipment being such 
that it is only necessary for the physician to furnish medicines and in- 
struments. 

It was the original intention to rent one-half of the building to physi- 
cians and dentists and the remainder of the space to mercantile people, 
which was done. Such success was attained, however, in renting to physi- 
cians that the mercantile space was gradually absorbed, and for many 
years the property has been devoted to the professional people. 

The building has been arranged, equipped and maintained with a view 
of providing maximum of comfort and convenience, and efforts made to 
incorporate any new features from time to time which it was thought would 
add to the attractiveness and utility of the space, and thus keep the build- 
ing as nearly as possible on a standard to equal that of any building of 
the most recent construction. This policy, with the special and complete 
equipment to meet the requirements of this class of tenants, has placed 
the building in a position where competition thus far has scarcely been; 
noticed. 

60 



A large amount of glass has been used, so that the offices are unusually 
light. The rooms have been arranged with an independent exit from each 
consulting room. This has added to the cost of construction, but is an 
important feature, as there are special reasons for occasionally dismissing 
patients privately and unobserved. These exits have generally been pro- 
vided by a series of private corridors for the joint use of adjoining suites. 

Retiring rooms directly connected with consulting rooms have been 
provided in many cases and are a great convenience to the physicians 
having large practices. This feature enables a physician to attend a pa- 
tient while the one whom he has just attended can be assigned to the 
retiring room in the event that he is not in a condition to leave immediately. 

Each office is provided with compressed air for nose and throat sprays 
and for various other purposes. Rooms with special features for eye, 
ear, nose and throat specialists are provided, as well as general surgeries 
in which minor operations are performed, the major cases being cared for 
at the hospitals. 

An intercommunicating telephone system is provided, with a telephone 
in each office, so that a tenant may communicate with the occupant of any 
office in the building. 

A medical library was at one time maintained, but as the time of the 
average physician is too limited to permit its frequent use it was dis- 
continued. 

A portion of the second floor is fitted as a space where a scientific 
regime in hydrotherapy, massatherapy and electrotherapy is given to pa- 
tients upon prescriptions of the attending physicians by expert attendants 
under medical supervision. This space is attractively finished in marble, 
and is supposed to contain almost every remedial, mechanical, electrical, 
or other device, approved by medical profession, or to furnish any- 
thing from an ordinary batji to a "Finsen light treatment" or "indoor 
electric sun bath;" in other words, almost every recognized legitimate reme- 
dial agent which it is practicable to have, used in the treatment of disease, 
outside of medicine itself, is supposed to be available in this space, the insti- 
tution having been established to meet the wants of physicians. This is not 
operated by the building, but by a physician who leases the space. 

Physicians' and surgeons' supplies of all kind are kept and can be 
secured at the drug store, so that there is hardly a want of a physician 
in connection with his work that cannot be supplied within the building. 

Only physicians of good professional standing are admitted. Those 
who advertise are debarred; in fact, professional reputation is such an im- 
portant factor that if advertising be done in a manner prohibited by the 
code of ethics of the American Medical Association by a tenant the lease 
has been violated and can be canceled by the landlord with claim for 
damages. The lease is also of sufficient elasticity to cover other un- 
professional conduct which might be detrimental to the building. 

Careful attention is given to the selection of tenants who jointly 
occupy offices, with a view of securing the greatest harmony of interests. 
In some cases a combination may consist of a general practitioner, a 
surgeon, an aurist, an oculist, nose and throat specialist and men repre- 
senting other lines; men, perhaps, who have the same college, hospital or 
other affiliations, and by occupying offices jointly each is able to advance 
the interests of the others, especially in the way of referring patients. 

Two floors of the building are furnished and equipped by the manage- 

61 



ment for tenants who desire office accommodations during a part of the day 
only. From the main hall on either of the floors the visitor enters a gen- 
eral reception room which will accommodate one hundred persons without 
crowding or even unpleasant contact. These reception rooms are pro- 
sided over by lady atteiuluuLs, who receive all visitors and notify the 
physician they wish to consult. This is done by means of telephones or 
electric signals which connect the reception room with the different con- 
sulting rooms grouped around it. 

The rooms are fitted up with a degree of elegance to immediately com- 
mand attention, and, in addition to general office furniture, each consulting 
room contains a large desk made especially for the purpose, with glass 
writing top, drawers and private lockers for medicine and instruments, 
with special locks for each tenant, an operating table or chair and toilet 
cabinet. Included, also, are towels, gas, telephone, electric light, elec- 
tricity for apparatus, compressed air, and in some rooms apparatus and 
appliances for nose, throat and eye work. In other woi'ds the equipment 
is so complete that everything is in readiness for the physician, without 
any outlay on his part outside of the payment of his rent. 

This plan of renting is of mutual advantage. The tenant who re- 
quires only a portion of a day does not pay for unused time, and while the 
rental is at a higher rate it results in a saving to him, besides securing a 
better return for the landlord. There are other advantages. Occasionally 
an applicant desires an office when there is no space available to meet 
his requirements. In such cases it not infrequently happens that the 
applicant will rent space on this plan where everything is in readiness 
until such time as an office can be secured which he is willing to rent 
permanently or for a long term. 

It has frequently occurred to the writer that perhaps this plan might 
be used to some advantage v/ith a reasonable amount of space in some of 
the mercantile buildings. There are, doubtless, many persons who require 
only a portion of a day, who might rent on this plan if the rooms were 
properly arranged and furnished, with competent attendants in charge to 
handle callers, receive and convey messages, and attend to other matters 
outside of, as well as during, the time the tenant occupied the office. 

It has not been the intention of the writer to enter into the question 
of specialized renting in a general way, as he has not made a study of 
the subject along broad lines, but merely to cover some facts, in connection 
with the property under his charge, which he thought might be interesting. 
Touching upon it briefly, however, it is obvious that the conditions for the 
successful renting of a large building to one class of tenants, if favorable 
at all, are only so in the largest cities, where there is an unusual concen- 
tration of interests. 

Specializing in several lines has been done to advantage by some build- 
ings when it might have been very unsatisfactory to have catered to one. 
The principal advantages are the facilitating of renting after headway has 
once been gained, and greater ability to retain tenants. The assembling of 
a class of people engaged in the same line, even though on a competing 
basis, who have many interests in common, promotes better and more 
profitable relations, and to that extent is an inducement, in addition to 
any attractiveness inherent in the building itself or its location, to pros- 
pective tenants to make leases, and the tenants themselves to renew 
leases. 

62 



How Leases Should be Made 

By L. L. Banks 

THE question of office building leases is one, to my mind, of great 
importance: It looks innocent enough, but is really difficult in its 
very simplicity. Before taking up this subject in detail, I consulted 
managers of various buildings throughout the country, and their replies 
amply confirmed my opinion that local conditions, necessarily, must largely 
govern the making of leases, and that no fixed rule can be laid down that 
will take care of all cases; in fact, each separate lease is a case in itself. 

I shall endeavor to discuss the subject under two separate headings: 
The Construction of the Lease and the Period for Which It Should Be 
Drawn. Under the former heading, I must abstain from coming into too 
close contact with the legal phase of the subject, because I am not of the 
legal profession and because, further, the laws of the different states vary 
greatly as regards landlord and tenant. I will, therefore, endeavor to 
sketch the more important features of a lease as it might be drawn under 
the laws of the State of Pennsylvania. 

Broadly speaking it should contain the following: 

1. — The date under which the agreement is made, regardless of the 
date it takes effect. 

2. — The name of the lessee (if an individual or individuals) in full, not 
merely the initials of the first and middle names. If a co-partnership, the 
names of the co-partners in full as well as the firm name under which 
they transact business; if a corporation, the name of the corporation in 
full as well as the name of the state or territory under whose laws it was 
organized and exists. 

3. — A definite description of the space leased, giving room numbers and 
floor. If the former is impracticable, attach a blue print or sketch de- 
scribing the space. 

4. — A definite description of the business to be transacted on the 
premises. This is necessary to the building whose management is dis- 
criminating and desires to maintain a high standard among the tenants, 
and consequently, a good reputation for the building. 

5. — A distinct specification of the term of the lease in years and months; 
also the dates of the commencement and of the expiration of the term. 
By all means, have a definite expiring period, be it April first, May first, 
or September first. This is nothing but systematic, 

6. — Specify the total rental for the entire term of the lease, and whether 
payable monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, in advance or at the end 
of the period, and where payable. 

7. — A clause providing that if the rent or any part of same shall at 
any time be in arrears and unpaid, or if the tenant shall fail to comply 
with any of the covenants, terms and conditions of the lease, or any notice 
given thereunder, or if the tenant shall remove, attempt to remove or 
manifest an intention to remove any of the goods and chattels from the 
premises without having paid the entire rent for the term, or if he should 

63 



make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors, or if an execution be 
issued again him, or if a petition be filed by or against him to have him 
adjudicated a bankrupt, or if his estate be brought into liquidation by any 
means whatsoever, or in case he should desert or vacate the premises, 
then, and in any such case, the rent for the entire unexpired portion of 
the lease shall thereupon become due and payable and a landlord's war- 
rant may be issued forthwith on the lease and prosecuted to sale for col- 
lection of the rent, and all charges due under the covenants of the lease. 
The landlord should also have the right to relet the premises, as agent 
for the tenant, for any unexpired portion of the lease, and to receive and 
retain the rent therefor, until all sums owing the landlord under the 
lease shall have been satisfied. 

8. — A clause providing, also, that under any of the above mentioned 
conditions the lease may, at the option of the landlord, be forfeited and 
terminated, and upon the termination of the lease by forfeiture or other- 
wise, any attorney may immediately thereafter, as attorney for the lessee, 
at the request of the landlord, sign an agreement for entering in any court 
of competent jurisdiction an amicable action and judgment in ejectment, 
etc. 

9. — A clause providing that, in addition to the other remedies given in 
the lease and by law, any attorney is authorized and empowered to ap- 
pear for th6 lessee in any court and confess judgment against him, for 
any amount due under the lease, with interest, costs of suit and 10 per 
cent attorney's commission for collection. 

10. — A clause providing that if the building is injured by fire or other 
casualty, not occurring through the negligence of the tenant, so that the 
premises are rendered wholly unfit for occupancy and cannot be repaired 
within sixty days, then the lease shall cease and determine from the 
date of such injury and the tenant shall pay the rent apportioned to the 
time of such injury and immediately surrender the premises to the land- 
lord, who may enter upon and re-possess the same. If the injury can be 
repaired within sixty days, the landlord may enter and repair and the 
lease shall not be affected in any manner, except that the rent shall be 
apportioned and suspended while the repairs are being made. If the 
premises are so slightly injured as not to be rendered unfit for occu- 
pancy, then the landlord shall agree that the same shall be repaired with 
reasonable promptitude, and in that ca'se, the rent accrued or accruing 
should not cease or determine. Under no circumstances should the land- 
lord be held liable for any loss or damage sustained by the tenant by 
reason of fire. 

11. — A clause binding the tenant to keep the premises in as good 
order and condition as the same were at the beginning of the term, rea- 
sonable wear and tear and damage by fire and other casualty, not oc- 
curring through the negligence of the tenant, excepted; also binding . the 
tenant to make no alterations, additions or improvements without the 
written consent of the landlord, and then with the understanding that all 
such alterations, additions and improvements made by either the tenant 
or the landlord, except movable office furniture, put in at the expense of 
the tenant, shall at once become and be the property of the landlord and 
shall remain upon and be surrendered with the premises at the termina- 
tion of the lease, without being molested or injured. 

12. — A clause binding the tenant not to use, or allow to be used, the 

64 



premises for any other purpose than mentioned, nor to manufacture any 
commodity, nor to prepare food or beverages therein, nor assign the said 
lease, nor under-let the said premises, or any part thereof, without the 
written consent of the landlord, under penalty, at the option of the land- 
lord, of having the monthly installments of rent doubled, with the right 
to collect same as hereinbefore provided in case of nonpayment of rent. 

13. — Also a clause providing that whenever the tenant holds possession 
of the premises, after the expiration of his lease, with the consent of the 
landlord, same shall be construed as a renewal of the lease with all of 
its convenants, for a like period for which the lease was originally drawn, 
and so for every term thereafter during which such tenancy shall continue 
or holding over take place. 

14. — Clearly define the various kinds of service that are to be fur- 
nished or performed by the landlord, agreeing that all ordinary cleaning, 
repairing and restoring of the elevators and other mechanisifi shall be 
effected after business hours, but reserving the right, in case of special 
necessity, to suspend the operation of one or more of the elevators, or, 
in extreme cases, of all of them, without being in any way liable to the 
tenant. If it is your custom to furnish electric light gratis, then at least 
|put in a clause in which reserve the right, in case the tenant, in the 
judgment of the landlord, is using the electric current in an extravagant 
manner, to compel the tenant to put in a meter or meters and pay for 
the excess amount used, or in default thereof, to cut off the supply. 

15. — The tenant should be required to give prompt written notice of 
any accident to o'r defects in, the water pipes, electric wires or warming 
apparatus, so that same may be attended to promptly. Have it distinctly 
stated that the landlord shall not be liable for any damage to any property 
on the premises or in the building, from water, rain or snow, which may 
leak into, issue or flow from any part of the building, or from the pipes or 
plumbing of the same, or from any other place or quarter. Nor shall the 
landlord be liable for damages to person or property which may result from 
the operation of the elevators, or from any other cause in said building. 

16. — Reserve the right to enter the premises at reasonable hours in 
the day or night to examine the same, to run electric wires, to make such 
repairs, additions and alterations as the landlord shall deem necessary for 
the safety, preservation, improvement or restoration of the said premises, 
or any part of said building, or for the safety or convenience of the oc- 
cupants thereof, without being in any wise liable to the lessee for dam- 
ages. 

17. — Last but not least, incorporate in your lease a set of rules and 
regulations for the government of the building. To my mind, those rules 
are all-important and will help you out of many a tight place. I will quote 
verbatim the rules and regulations of the Park Building, Pittsburg, Pa. 

Rules and Regulations of Park Building. 

1. — The sidewalks, halls, passages, elevators and stairways shall not 
be obstructed by any of the tenants, nor used by them for any other pur- 
pose than for ingress and egress to and from their respective apartments, 

2. — Tenants, their clerks or servants, shall not make or commit any 
improper noise or disturbances of any kind in the building, smoke tobacco 
in the elevators, or mark or defile them, or mark or defile the water- 
closets, or toilet rooms, or the walls, windows or doors of the building, or 

65 



interfere in any way with other tenants or those having business with 
them. 

3. — No carpet, rug or other article shall be hung or shaken out of any 
window, and nothing shall be thrown or allowed to drop by the tenants, 
their clerks or employes out of the windows or doors, or down the passages 
or skylight of the building, and no tenant shall sweep or throw, or permit 
to be swept or thrown from the leased premises, any dirt or other sub- 
stance into any of the corridors or halls, elevators or stairways of said 
building, or into the light well thereof. 

4. — The floors, skylights, windows, doors and transoms that reflect or 
admit light into passageways or into any place in said building, shall not 
be covered or obstructed by any of the tenants. The toilet-rooms, water- 
closets, and other water apparatus shall not be used for any other purpose 
other than those for which they were constructed, and no sweepings, 
rubbish, rags, ashes, chemicals, or the refuse from electric batteries, or 
other unsuitable substances, shall be thrown therein. Any damage re- 
sulting from such misuse or abuse shall be borne by the lessee by whom 
or by whose employes or visitors it shall be caused. 

5. — No linoleum, or oil cloth, or rubber, or other air-tight covering 
shall be laid upon the floors, nor shall articles be fastened to, or holes 
drilled or nails or screws driven into the walls or partitions, nor shall 
the walls or partitions be painted, papered or otherwise covered, or in any 
way marked or broken, without the written consent of the lessors. 

6. — Nothing shall be placed on the outside of the building, or on the 
windows, windov/-sills or projections. 

7. — No sign, advertisement or notice shall be inscribed, painted or af- 
fixed on any part of the outside or inside of said building, unless of such 
color, size and style, and in such places upon or in said building, as shall 
be first designated by the lessors. Signs on doors and windows will be 
painted for the tenants by a sign-writer appointed by the lessors, the cost of 
the painting to be paid by the lessee. Directories in conspicuous places, 
with the names of the tenants, will be provided by the lessors. 

8. — Lessors will furnish, on application, window shades or awnings of 
uniform style or color, but the net cost shall be paid by the lessee, who 
shall have the right to remove the same at the expiration of the lease. 
No other shades or awnings shall be put up. 

9. — If the tenants desire to install telephones, call boxes, telegraph 
wires or other electric wires, the lessors shall direct where and how the 
same are to be placed. No wires shall be run in any part of the building 
excepting by or under the direction of lessors' agent. The attaching of 
wires to the outside of the building is absolutely prohibited. Electric light 
apparatus shall not be disturbed or in any way interfered with by lessee, 
his agents or servants; all work upon or alterations to same shall be 
done only by such persons as may be authorized by lessors. 

10. — Lessors shall have the right to prescribe the weight and proper 
position of iron and steel safes, and no safe shall be hoisted or placed in 
any part of the building except under the direction of the lessors' 
agent. No furniture or bulky articles shall be carried up or down the 
stairways of the building, or otherwise than on the freight elevator, and 
then only at such times, and under such regulations as may be pre- 
scribed by lessors. Furniture and other articles to be handled in the 
freight elevator shall be first unpacked in the room designated for that 
purpose in the basement or attic of the building. 

66 



11. — Lessee must, upon the termination of his lease, leave the win- 
dows and doors in the demised premises in the like condition as at the 
date of commencement of said term, and must then surrender all keys 
delivered to him. No additional lock or locks shall be placed by the 
lessee on any door in the building unless written consent of the lessors 
shall have first been obtained. A reasonable number of keys will be fur- 
nished by the lessors. Neither lessee, his agents or servants, shall have 
any duplicate keys made. 

12. — No tenant shall do or permit anything to be done in said premises, 
or bring or keep anything therein, which will in any way increase the 
rate of fire insurance on said building or on property kept therein, or 
obstruct or interfere with the rights of other tenants, or in any way injure 
or annoy them, or conflict with the laws relating to fires, or with the reg- 
ulations of the fire department, or with any insurance policy upon said 
building or any part thereof, or conflict with any of the rules and ordi- 
nances of the Board of Health. 

13. — In order that the leased premises may be kept in a good state 
of preservation and cleanliness each lessee shall, during the continuance of 
his lease, permit the janitor of the lessors to take charge of and clean 
the said leased premises. 

14. — No tenant shall employ any person or persons, other than the 
janitor of the lessors, for the purpose of such cleaning or taking charge 
of said premises, it being understood and agreed that the lessors shall 
be in nowise responsible to any tenant for any damage done to the fur- 
niture or other effects of the tenant by the janitor or any of his em- 
ployes, or any other person, or from any loss of property from leased 
premises, however occurring. Tenants will see that the windows are 
closed and the doors securely locked before leaving the building. 

15. — No animals or birds shall be kept in or upon the premises. 

16. — No machinery of any kind will be allowed to be operated on the 
premises without the written consent of lessors. 

17. — The carrying of ice in the elevators or on the stairways or in the 
halls of the building is positively forbidden between the hours of 7:00 a. 
m. and 7:00 p. m. 

18. — The use of rooms as sleeping apartments or for any immoral or 
illegal purpose, is absolutely prohibited. 

19. — Tenants are prohibited from giving fees to employes of building. 

20. — Lessors reserve the right to make any or all alterations in said 
building as may be required by lessee, the expense of such alterations to 
be paid by lessee. 

21. — All damage done to the leased premises, or to the corridors, 
through the carelessness or negligence of the lessee or his employes or 
agents, shall be repaired by the lessors and the cost of same paid by the 
lessee. 

Now, as to the length of time for which a lease should be drawn, 
there are many relative circumstances that must be considerei, such 
as the building's location in the city's business district; the trend of real 
estate values; the question of supply of, and demand for, office space; 
the line of business in which the prospective tenant is engaged; the 
amount of floor space he will require; what alterations will be reces- 
sary to adapt the space to his requirements; and last, but not least, his 
financial and moral responsibility. 

67 



It is my own belief, after an experience of almost fourteen years in 
one large office building, that five year leases are the most satisfactory 
to the owner and to the tenant alike, provided, of course, they are made 
judiciously. I do not believe a lease should be made for less than three 
years, where more space than one small room is involved, and when ex- 
tensive alterations are required, the lease should be for at least five 
years. 

Tenancy-at-will and month-to-month leases and even too many one- 
year leases have a tendency to make the tenants of a building more or 
less transient and this certainly does not help the standing of a building. 
On the contrary, I believe that a rule of no lease for less than three years 
(other than for small spaces, as above mentioned) would tend to bring 
a better class of applicants, who, usually are of a more substantial char- 
acter. Even in the case of small single rooms, if the prospective tenant 
is responsible and carries on a legitimate business, he will not, usually, 
object to making a lease for at least a year; if he does, nine times out of 
ten he is not the sort of tenant that a first class building wants. 

It is well enough to say "We don't need long leases; we give our 
tenants high grade service and there is no need for their leaving our 
building. If they a're dissatisfied, we don't want them in the building any- 
way." But, in my opinion, if a building gives this high grade service, 
every possible effort should be made to get long leases and then satisfy 
the tenant. With long term leases in a well conducted building, the ten- 
ants are likely to feel at home before their leases have expired, and they 
are more apt to remain permanently, whereas, with short term leases, 
some of them may, for fancied or trivial grievances, quit the building, to 
their own and to the owner's disadvantage. 

Furthermore, it is anything but economical to make alterations to suit 
the requirements of tenants for a term of less than five years; at the 
best, alterations are troublesome and expensive. Each incoming tenant ex- 
pects the premises to be put in first class condition and suited to his re- 
quirements. If his lease is for one year and he decides to move out at its 
expiration, you have the job to do over again for the next tenant and so 
on ad infinitum. If the lease were for three or five years, the probabilities 
are that very little, if any, decorating and repairing would have been 
necessary during the term. This means a saving in paint, varnish and 
labor, to say nothing of a saving in wear and tear to the building as a 
result of frequent movings; besides, these frequent movings do the repu- 
tation of a building no good. 

Of course, in this paper, I have in mind, principally, the cities in 
which the office building business has been greatly overdone. Pittsburg 
is certainly in this class, and there are undoubtedly many others. Those 
larger cities that have not felt this condition as yet, will sooner or later. 
With a condition such as this isn't it good policy to make as many long 
leases as possible? 

The procuring of tenants, does not, perhaps, come under my subject, 
but the practice in vogue in a few of the larger cities, where new buildings 
have recently been erected, is such that even a reasonably long lease in 
an older building will not deter the owners or agents of the new ones from 
"buying" tenants. I know of instances, and a number of them, where ten- 
ants in older buildings have had two-year leases assumed, their moving ex- 
penses paid and larger and more expensive space in a new building given 

68 



them for the same annual rental they were paying in the older building, in 
order that they might be secured as tenants for the new building. Does thia 
kind of competition strike you as fair? Would this not be an added reason or 
incentive to get leases for as long a term as possible, even if there were 
no other? 

None of us are in this business for fun; a very few of us, perhaps, are 
operating monuments without regard to profits, but the vast majority of us 
are on the job to make money and make as much as possible, and there is 
no better way to do it than to get a building filled with good tenants on 
long leases and then give them the best service you know how; such service 
that it will take more than ordinary inducements to make them leave you. 

One thing is sure, however, no matter for what term you rent, insist 
upon a written lease; put your tenants under a set of rules and regulations. 
This tenant-at-will business is not the proper arrangement for a high grade 
office building; it encourages a cheap clientele and sooner or later the repu- 
tation of the building will suffer. 




S^?§ 



69 



Legal Relations of Landlord and Tenant 

By C. J. Fuess, LL. B. 

THE relation of landlord and tenant may be defined in general terms 
as that which arises from a contract by which one person occupies 
the property of another with his permission, and in subordination 
to his rights, the occupant being known as the tenant, and the person in 
subordination to whom he occupies, the landlord. It is essential to the rela- 
tion that the occupancy be both permissive and subordinate, and liability as 
between landlord and tenant rests upon privity, both of estate and of con- 
tract. 

To create the relation of landlord and tenant there must be a valid con- 
tract between the parties, either express or implied, which for its validity 
depends on the same principles as other contracts, such as the presence of 
a sufficient legal consideration, and which involves mere rights of property. 

While the reservation of a rent is made an essential to a lease by many 
of the definitions, it is well settled that the relation of landlord and tenant 
may arise without a reservation of rent. Rent, when reserved, may be in 
services, or some other consideration. 

The contract by which the relation of landlord and tenant is created is 
usually known as a lease, which, according to a commonly accepted defini- 
tion, is a species of contract for the possession and profits of land and tene- 
ments, either for life, or for a certain period of time, or during the pleasure 
of the parties. No particular words are necessary to create a lease, and 
whatever is suflBcient to explain the intent of the parties that one shall 
divest himself of the possession, and the other to come into it, for a deter- 
minate time, amounts to a lease. 

A lease or an agreement for a lease must be supported by a sufficient- 
consideration in order to be valid. The demise of a leasehold estate is a 
sufficient consideration for the lessee's undertaking to pay rent; and con- 
versely payment of rent is a sufficient consideration for the demise. 

To make a good lease, and thus create the relation of landlord and 
tenant, while no particular words are necessary, it is indispensable that it 
should appear to have been the intention of one party to dispossess himself 
of the premises, and of the other to enter and occupy as the former himself 
had the right to do, pursuant to the agreement between them. A memoran- 
dum expressing the consent of the owner that another shall have immediate 
possession of premises, and shall continue to occupy them at a specified rent 
and for a definite term, is a sufficient lease. In general, any agreement 
under which one person obtains the right of enjoyment to property of an- 
other, with his consent and in subordination to his right, may create the 
relation of landlord and tenant. As between parties, an agreement may be a 
lease, while as to third persons it may be construed as a building contract. 
Where an instrument has the effect of giving the holder an exclusive right 
of occupation of the land, although subject to certain reservations, or to a 
restriction of the purposes for which it may be used, it is in law a demise 
of the land Itself. 

70 



It is generally held to be essential to the validity of a lease that it pre- 
scribe with reasonable certainty the date of commencement and the duration 
of term of the lease. 

The general rule is that a lease takes effect so as to vest the estate or 
interest to be conveyed only from its delivery and not from its date, or the 
time the signatures were affixed to it; and there can be no delivery without 
an acceptance, express or implied. While delivery, in the popular accept- 
ance of the term', implies a manual transfer of possession from one person 
to another, yet, where the lessee by formal assent or unequivocal acts, such 
as entering into possession, treats the instruments as in his possesion, it is 
sufficient to constitute a delivery. The delivery is complete where the 
lessor has put it beyond his power to rescind the agreement or recall the 
instrument of lease. 

Of course, it is the duty of the tenant to so use the leased property as 
not unnecessarily to injure it. A tenant is liable, in the absence of an ex- 
press agreement to the contrary, for causing a permanent injury to the 
demised premises over and above the ordinary wear and tear, when such 
injury to the premises is caused by his wrongful act or negligence. The 
measure of care which a tenant must use to avoid responsibility is that 
which a person of ordinary prudence and caution would use if his own in- 
terests were to be affected and the whole risk were his own. A tenant is 
not liable for such wear and tear as is incident to the business conducted 
on the premises, nor is he liable for injury to, or destruction of the premises 
by fire, where he has not been negligent. The liability of the tenant ex- 
tends to the acts of his servants and business associates. The right to sue 
for injuries committed by the tenant or those for whose acts he is liable, is 
not waived by the subsequent acceptance of rent, nor by the execution of a 
new lease, nor by the acceptance of a certain sum in consideration of the 
surrender of the lease. But an agreement to stop the litigation for injuries 
and surrender the lease is based on a sufficient consideration to preclude 
the right to afterward recover damages. 

A landlord may enjoin his tenant from acts causing an injury to the 
reversion, where such injury will probably be irreparable, or cannot be 
compensated in damages recoverable in an action by law. 

Where a tenant has covenanted not to subleasg^ or underlet, without the 
landlord's consent, he will be enjoined from breaking the covenant; and if 
an assignee is bound by the covenant, he, too, may be enjoined from break- 
ing it. 

There is a well defined distinction between the assignment of a term for 
years and a sublease or underletting. Accordingly, a restriction in a lease 
against assigning is not violated by an underletting, and a restriction 
against underletting is not violated by an assignment. Generally speaking, 
if the lessee parts with his entire interest in term it constitutes an assign- 
ment and not a subletting, although the instrument of transfer is in form 
a sublease; but if the lessee reserves to himself a reversionary interest in 
the term, it constitutes a sublease, whatever the form of the instrument of 
transfer. And as between the parties to the original lease, or as between 
the lessee and his transferee, if the instrument is in form a sublease, it will 
operate as such, although the lessee parts with the entire term. The dis- 
tinction between an assignment and a sublease depends not upon the extent 
of the premises transferred, but upon the quantity of interest which passes. 

A written lease may be extended by parole. 

71 



A lease may be renewed or extended by an indorsement on the original 
instrument. 

If the lessor accepts a surrender of the premises, even after the holding 
over begins, the lease is terminated, and a subsequent occupation upon a re- 
entry without the landlord's consent is not as tenant. 

If the tenant permits a third person to occupy the premises, it is in 
law considered to be the tenant's occupancy and is followed by the same 
consequences, and this rule applies to the occupancy of subtenants. The 
holding over by an assignee of the lessee will bind such assignee as a tenant 
under the terms of the original lease. 

Where the lease is to two, only one of whom occupies, it is held that 
his holding after the expiration of the lease may be presumed to be by both 
unless the other gives notice that he ceases to hold. 

Except as otherwise modified by statute, and in those jurisdictions 
where implied tenancies from year to year are not recognized, if a tenant 
under a lease for a" year or longer without any other agreement with his 
landlord in that regard, holds over his term, then, upon the theory that he 
becomes a tenant from year to year, he may be held for another year, and 
if he pays and the landlord accepts rent, neither can terminate the tenancy 
for that year before its expiration. If the original term is for a period 
less than a year, however, then the holding over will operate to renew the 
tenancy for the original period and not for a year. 

A tenancy from year to year may arise either expressly, as when land 
is let from year to year, or by a general parole demise, without any deter- 
minate interest, but reserving the payment of annual rent; or by implica- 
tion, as when property is occupied generally under a rent payable yearly, 
half yearly, or quarterly; or when a tenant holds over, after the expiration 
of his term, without having entered into any new contract and pays rent. 
Such a tenant, however, will not be created contrary to the intent of both 
parties, and payment of rent is merely a fact bearing on the question of in- 
tent. 

A landlord may treat a tenant holding over after a term as a tenant 
from year to year or as a trespasser, at his election. 

Where a lessee for years holds over after the expiration of his term, 
and becomes a tenant from year to year, the tenancy is subject to all the 
covenants and stipulations contained in the original lease, so far as they 
are applicable to the new condition of things. 

A tenant from month to month does not become a tenant from year 
to year by continuing in possesion for more than a year. The character of 
the tenancy remains unchanged. 

To constitute a tenancy from month to month a special agreement to 
that effect may be made, or the tenancy may be implied from the manner 
in which the rent is paid. Thus a lease for an indefinite term, with monthly 
rent reserved, creates a tenancy from month to month. Such a tenancy is 
a continuing one, and not a new tenancy at the beginning of each month. 
A tenancy for a specified period of one month is a term for years, and not 
a tenancy from month to month or year to year; nor does the mere pay- 
ment of one month's rent with nothing further said or done, create a ten- 
ancy from month to month. A tenant who enters by an implied license be- 
comes a tenant by sufferance, and out of this relation a tenancy from month 
to month may arise by the monthly demand and payment of rent. So also 

72 



a lease creating an estate at will only may be converted into one from 
month to month by entry thereunder and payment of monthly rent. 

A holding over by a tenant from month to month with the assent of his 
landlord will, In the absence of a new lease, be presumed to be on the same 
terms as the prior letting. 

According to the weight of authority, the lease of a portion of a build- 
ing for a store or other business purposes, gives the lessee the exclusive 
right to the use of the outer walls of the portion of the building so leased 
by him for the purpose of posting advertisements and notices thereon. 

It may be broadly stated, in the absence of fraud or concealment by the 
lessor of the condition of the property, at the date of the lease, the rule of 
caveat emptor applies since there is no implied warranty on the part of 
the landlord that the premises are tenantable, or even reasonably suitable 
for occupation. It is held, however, that there is an implied obligation on 
the part of the lessor that the leased premises shall be complefed and ready 
for occupancy at the commencement of the term. 

Any disturbance of the lessee's possession of the premises by the land- 
lord, or the removal of personalty appurtenant thereto, entitles the lessee 
to recover from the lessor for the damage sustained thereby. 

In the absence of statute, or of express covenant or stipulation in the 
lease, the lessor is not bound to make ordinary repairs to the leased prop- 
erty, nor to pay for such repairs made by the tenant. Nor under such cir- 
cumstances can there by any recovery from the landlord for injuries result- 
ing from such defects, unless they were of such character at the beginning 
of the lease as to amount to a nuisance. 

A promise to repair, made by a landlord to his tenant during the ten- 
ancy, with no other consideration than such tenancy, is a nudum pactum, 
and cannot be enforced. An acceptance of a lease, containing a covenant 
to deliver up the premises at the end of the term in as good order and repair 
"as the same now are or may be put into by the lessor," is a sufficient con- 
sideration for a contemporaneous agreement, a part of the same transaction, 
in which the lessor binds himself to make certain repairs forthwith; and 
where a tenant refuses to pay rent unless repairs are made, and is notified 
to quit, he may regard the lease as ended, and a subsequent promise of the 
landlord to make repairs if the tenant will stay at the same rental is 
based on a sufficient consideration. 

In the absence of a stipulation in the lease to that effect, the landlord 
cannot enter on the leased premises during the term to make repairs, al- 
though such repairs are necessary from the unsafe condition of the premises, 
where no obligation is imposed upon the landlord to make such repairs, 
either by statute, or in the terms of the lease. A covenant on the part of 
the landlord to make certain specified repairs implied a license by the tenant 
to the landlord to enter upon the premises for a reasonable time for the pur- 
pose of executing such repair. However, the landlord's right to make 
needed repairs does not extend to the disturbance of the tenants in the en- 
joyment of the premises further than is absolutely necessary to put and 
keep them in the same condition they were in when the lease was made, and 
if he goes beyond this limit he is a trespasser. 

As a general rule rent does not accrue to the lessor as a debt until tlie 
lessee has enjoyed the use of the land. Liability for rent, however, does 
not always depend upon the actual occupation of the premises during the 
time for which recovery is sought. 

73 



A lessor who has consented to a change of tenancy and permitted a 
change of occupation, and received rent from the new tenant, cannot after- 
ward charge the original tenant for rent accruing subsequently to such 
change. An agreement to release the original lessee and accept another 
tenant in his stead need not be express, but may be inferred from the con- 
duct of the parties. 

If the day on which rent would become payable is a holiday, the rent 
nevertheless falls due then, though the fact that it is a holiday extends the 
time allowed to the lessee to pay it. Thus, if the rent is payable on Septem- 
ber 1st, and that day is Sunday, the rent falls due on Sunday, but the tenant 
has all of Monday in which to make the payment. 

When no other place is fixed for the payment of rent, it is payable 
upon the land out of which it issues. 

In order to be assured that no question shall arise as to the place at 
which it is to be paid, a specific agreement as to that point should be made. 

But a tender of payment to the landlord is good either off or on the 
land. 

After rent becomes due the landlord is entitled to interest from the due 
date. 

Where rent is specifically received for a subsequent period the presump- 
tion is that the prior rent has been paid. Of course this is a presumption 
merely and is rebuttable. 

In the absence of any agreement on the subject the landlord Is under 
no obligation if the tenant unjustifiably abandons the premises during the 
term to re-let them, but may rest on his rights under the lease, and hold 
the tenant liable for rent as it accrues. Such a course, however, is useless 
in a case where an ex-tenant is financially irresponsible. 

If there is no provision in the lease in reference to repairs, the tenant 
is still under an implied covenant to make what are called "tenantable 
repairs"; "to treat the premises demised in such a manner that no injury 
be done to the inheritance, but that the estate may revert to the lessor un- 
deteriorated by the willful or negligent conduct of the lessee. He is bound, 
therefore, to keep the soil in a proper state of cultivation, to preserve the 
timber and to support and repair the buildings." This is an elementary 
statement of the law requiring a tenant to reasonably maintain a proper 
condition of whatever portion of real estate he may have leased. 

The lessee is not bound to make substantial, lasting or general repairs, 
but only such ordinary repairs as are necessary to prevent waste and decay 
of the premises. (Suydam v. Jackson, 54 N. Y. 450.) 

If a window in a dwelling should be blown in, the tenant could not per- 
mit it to remain out and storms to beat in and greatly injure the premises 
without liability for permissive waste, and if, in time of rain, a shingle or 
board in the roof should blow off, the tenant could not permit the water to 
fiood the premises and thus injure them without a similar liability. 

On the other hand, a landlord, in the absence of an express agreement, 
is not bound to make repairs, nor to pay for those made by the tenant, nor 
to rebuild in case of partial or total destruction. And a promise made by 
the landlord pending the term, to repair the premises, if without consider- 
ation, is of no avail. 

If a property is leased for a definite term, under a single contract which 
contains no covenant that the premises are in good repair, or tenantable con- 
dition, or that the lessor will put or keep them so, the law does not imply 

74 



a covenant on the part of the lessor that the property is without inherent 
defects rendering it unfit for residence, nor that, if it is so, it will continue 
so through the term. This rule applies also to the presence of vermin, 
offensive odors, etc. 

The maxim "caveat emptor," that is — let the buyer beware— applies and 
the tenant takes the risk of quality and condition unless he protects himself 
by an express agreement. 

If the landlord has bound himself by the lease to make repairs, or to 
rebuild, and refuses or neglects to do so, after reasonable notice, the lessee 
may make them and charge the necessary expense to the landlord. 

But if there is no special agreement between the landlord and the ten- 
ant on the subject of repairs, the latter cannot charge the expense of re- 
pairs made by him to the landlord. 

If the landlord has covenanted to repair, and has failed to perform, but 
the premises are not thereby rendered uninhabitable, the tenant cannot 
vacate the premises and thereby terminate his liability for rent. He has 
three remedies: (a) to make the repairs himself, or (b) to withhold rent, 
and when sued set up his damages as a counterclaim, or (c) to bring action 
for damages. 

There is many times a question as to the landlord's right to enter prem- 
ises leased by him. If the lease provides that the landlord shall, or may, 
repair, etc., there is an implied permission that he may enter premises for 
that purpose. But in the absence of such provision, the landlord has no 
right to enter on the premises without the permission of the tenant, unless 
upon some default of the latter and under authority of law. If the tenant 
has covenante'd to make repairs, and defaults, and abandons the premises, 
the landlord may make the repairs and recover both the expense thereof 
and also rent for the period succeeding the abandonment. So he may repair 
at fhe expiration of the term, if the premises are not left as agreed, and 
may hold the tenant for the expense. 

A tenant, particularly when in for a, long term, frequently improves the 
premises. This is sometimes done under a permission conferred by the 
lease and a provision for some form of compensation to the tenant, either 
in the form of money, or a renewal of the term, or otherwise. But where 
a tenant for years makes improvements on his own responsibility and for 
his own benefit, he has, apart from any provision of the lease, no claim 
against the landlord for their value. 

By the covenant of quiet enjoyment, whether express or implied, the 
lessor undertakes two things: first, that the tenant shall not be evicted by 
one lawfully claiming under a valid paramount title; and, secondly, that the 
lessor will not do, or cause to be done, anything by means of which the 
tenant will be prevented from using the premises for any intended lawful 
purpose to which they could or might have applied at the time of the letting. 

The general rule is that eviction is necessary to constitute a breach of 
the covenant of quiet enjoyment, for the covenant extends to the possession 
and not to the title, and thus is broken only by an entry and expulsion 
from, or some actual disturbance of the possession of the tenant. 

There are circumstances which may justify the tenant in abandoning 
the premises, and which, in connection with the abandonment, will support 
a defense by the tenant of eviction by the landlord, although there was no 
actual entry, or physical disturbance of the tenant's possession. But there 
can be no constructive eviction without a surrender of the possession, and 

76 



before the tenant can successfully set up eviction he must have given up 
possession. .. ,;^yi.s$^ 

It is not every trespass by the lessor upon the demised premises which 
will amount to a breach of the covenant for quiet eiijoyment. Although the 
covenantor cannot avail himself of the subterfuge that his entry was unlaw- 
ful, and he, therefore, a trespasser, to avoid the consequences of his own 
wrong, still to support the action of the covenant, the entry must be made 
under an assumption of title. 

As a general proposition, if a tenant holds over, or continues in pos- 
session of the demised premises, after his term has expired, the landlord is 
entitled to hold him liable for a further term. In order to have this effect, 
the holding over must be a continuance of that possession which he ac- 
quired under the lease, as, for example, where all the tenant's property re- 
mains upon the premises after the term has expired, in the same condition 
as before. In such a case such occupation may constitute a holding over 
as matter of law. But unless there is a continuance of the possession ac- 
quired under the lease, there is no holding over such as to bind the tenant 
for a new term. 

The fact that the tenant does not formally "surrender" the premises 
does not constitute a holding over. It is a sufficient surrender if he move 
out at the end of the term. His time is up and he departs, carrying his 
property with him, and this is all that he is required to do. But in order to 
warrant a forcible ejection of a tenant from the demised premises, on the 
ground that he had made a surrender, an actual delivery of the premises by 
him to the landlord is essential. A mere agreement to surrender is insuf- 
ficient and a mere holding over does not justify a forcible entry and ejection 
by the landlord without process. 

Where a tenant for a year, or for one or more years, holds over after 
the expiration of his term, the law will imply an agreement to hold for an- 
other year, upon the terms of his prior holding so far as applicable. The 
same principle has been held applicable to a monthly hiring, or to a hiring 
for eleven and one-half months; in which cases the result of holding over 
would be to continue the tenancy for another month, or for another term of 
eleven and one-half months, respectively. 

The option to regard the act of the tenant in holding over, either as a 
trespass or as establishing a leasing for a further term, is with the landlord 
and not with the tenant; the latter holds over the term at his peril. And 
the fact that the tenant had previously notified the landlord of his intention 
not to remain for another year, and that he has hired other premises, is im- 
material, and does not diminish the landlord's right to hold him to the legal 
effect of his actual holding over. But the holding over puts the landlord to 
his election; he must either accept the tenant as a tenant for a new term 
or treat him as a trespasser; he cannot do both. 

The fact that a tenant's holding over is not voluntary and for his own 
convenience, but involuntary, though avoidable, is immaterial. Thus, it is no 
excuse that the tenant, having violated her covenants by sub-leasing the 
premises for a boarding-house, found it impracticable to engage trucks to 
move on the last day, and that on the next day a sick boarder could not be 
moved with safety, and was not moved until the day following. 

And if the tenant sublets the premises, and the sub-tenant holds over 
the term of the principal lease, the original tenant becomes bound thereby 
to the landlord, with the same effect as though he had personally held over. 

76 



And the same principle applies to bind an assignee of the tenant if the 
assignee's sub-tenant holds over. If a sub-tenant holds over and thus binds 
the tenant for another year, the landlord who collects rent from the sub- 
tenant is liable to pay over to the tenant any excess above the principal 
rent. 

The lessee of premises acquires by the lease, subject to its covenants 
and certain restrictive principles, the right to exercise and enjoy all priv- 
ileges belonging to the owner thereof as such, which he might have exer- 
cised and enjoyed by virtue of his ownership of the premises if he had not 
demised them, as to make such erections, improvements and additions as 
may contribute to profitable employment, which are not prohibited by the 
terms of the lease and do not constitute waste. 

The rights of a tenant as against the lessor's mortgage or a purchaser 
of the foreclosure sale depend, in the first place, upon the question whether 
the lease was executed first, and so the tenant in possession is unaffected by 
the mortgage, or whether the mortgage was executed first, and so cannot be 
prejudiced by a subsequent lease by the mortgagor. And even though the 
mortgage is prior to the lease, yet the tenant is not bound by the fore- 
closure unless he is brought in as a party. 

In the absence of any special provisions in the lease, the tenant of a 
floor in a building leased for business purposes may in general use the outer 
surface of the wall constituting part of the premises demised to him for 
advertising purposes, and to that end may cause to be painted or displayed 
thereon appropriate and inoffensive pictures, signs, and other devices, or, it 
seems, may suspend his wares thereon if no one is incommoded thereby. 

But his right in these respects must be exercised within the limits of 
his duty not to work any permanent or material alteration in the building 
in derogation of the right of the reversioner at the end of the term. In ad- 
dition, his rights are governed by statute, local ordinance and the terms of 
his lease. 

Unless the landlord has by covenant or otherwise bound himself to keep 
the demised premises in repair or in other respects in safe condition, and 
has failed to do so, or has, in fact, rendered himself liable by some culpable 
negligence, as in the performance of repairs or alterations, which he has 
undertaken to make, or has misrepresented the condition of the premises, 
or concealed danger, defects or nuisances, known to him, or of which he 
was put on notice, at the time of the letting, and not apparent upon Inspec- 
tion, or leases premises with a nuisance thereon, which continues after the 
leasing, or leases for a use which continued will constitute a nuisance, or 
is guilty of a trespass not constituting a nuisance, he is not liable for 
injuries resulting from defective or improper condition. 

It is not the general rule that the owner of land is, as such, responsible 
for any nuisance thereon. It is the occupier, and he alone, to whom such 
responsibility generally and prima facie attaches. The owner, however, is 
responsible, (1) if he creates a nuisance, and maintains it; (2) if he creates 
a nuisance, and then demises the land for rent with the nuisance thereon, 
although he is out of occupation; (3) if the nuisance was erected on the 
land by a prior owner, or by a stranger and he knowingly maintains it; 

(4) if, in certain cases, he has demised premises and covenanted to keep 
them in repair, but omits to repair, and thus they become a nuisance; 

(5) if he demises premises to be used as a nuisance, or for a business, or 
in a way, so that they will necessarily be a nuisance. But an owner who 

77 



has demised premises for a term, during which they become ruinous, Is not 
responsible for the nuisance unless he has covenanted to repair. 

With all due apology for broaching the subject myself, I wish in con- 
clusion to offer a few words about the relation of the lawyer to the manager. 
I believe I may with all propriety suggest that the manager will do well 
to pay a competent attorney a fairly ample retainer in consideration that 
the attorney become a portion of the working organization of the building 
and be at the helm whenever needed. There are countless apparently in- 
significant matters which should have the close scrutiny of a good legal 
mind, and the manager should have at call the advice and suggestion of a 
lawyer. It is just as economic as hiring a carpenter or plumber. Notwith- 
standing its importance, however, many managers think it sufficient to 
advise with counsel only when the urgency of the situation demands, and 
they present complications which might have been avoided by timely sug- 
gestion and advice. In addition, there is a certain gratifying sense of 
security and confidence which pervades the manager's efforts when backed 
by sound legal counsel that well repays the cost. Perhaps this is an ill- 
timed suggestion, since those who ao not keep in touch with their counsel 
provide more retainers for lawyers by their unintentional mistakes, but to 
my mind the advice is sound and productive of greater harmony and real 
justice. 

Be cautious and fair, but when your rights are infringed possess your- 
self of sufficient decision to enforce your rights through the medium of the 
law. By so doing you will command enviable respect and wholesome fear. 



78 



The Ninety-nine Year Lease 

By Alexander S. Taylor 

TY/ENTY-FIVE years of activity in tlie general real estate business 
has shown me that the operation of 99-year leaseholds has done more 
than any other feature of the real estate business to develop, expand 
and solidify the business section of Cleveland. 

It has proved most advantageous and remunerative to the brokers 
handling the transactions, as well as to the lessees who have operated 
under this pian. Its possibilities and beuehts are so tar-reacMug and within 
the grasp of every active real estate broker who is alive to his opportunities 
that I urge a careful study of the possibilities that are presented through 
this line of work. 

The history of ground leases dates back to former countries. They 
w'ere first operative in England, wnere extensive iand-owners receiving 
grants from the Crown, desirmg to perpetuate their ownership and a sure 
income from their lands, entered into long-term ground leases, the greater 
portion of them being for a 99-year period, some renewable forever. In the 
ciiy of London the larger percentage of land, both in tue business and resi- 
dential section, is under long-term giound leases. In the older sections of 
tbe City lands are held by the old and wealthy families, who, with the income 
derived from this form of absolutely safe investment, are living in ease 
and luxury, one of the most notable examples being the Duke of Westminster, 
who at the present time, through tne sagacity of his ancestors, has 99-year 
leasehoias expiring on some of the most valuable lands in London, many 
of them now being on their second period; and it is easy to imagine the 
fabulous increase in his ground rent based on the new valuation. There 
the fee of property is seldom sold, the operations being on the leasehold 
rights of the lessee. 

In the settlement of America the early English settlers first populating 
the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania were of the wealthier class, and 
introduced the custom of long-term ground leases into this country, their 
earliest history being in the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia, as early 
as 1817. 

The settlers of New York, being Holland Dutch, were not familiar with 
the operation of ground leases, nor were the poorer classes of English 
people who first settled the New England states, their experience having 
been that merely of tenant in their own country. 

The meaning of the term "99-year lease" is often asked, and why ninety- 
nine years rather than any other fixed period should have been adopted. 
From what I can determine such an expression is merely intended to indicate 
a form of lease which early became most common in England. It is evident 
that at one time they had a statute in England which placed certain restric- 
tions providing that a lease should not be taken for a 100-year term or 
more, so that this being the longest term allowable the same was adopted 

79 



and the restriction against a longer term practically nullified by provisions 
in the lease amounting to contracts for renewal, sometimes for fixed periods 
and sometimes forever, there being apparently no statute to interfere v/ith 
such stipulations for renewal. 

The ordinary lease is a contract for the possession of land and tene- 
ments, in consideration of the payment of rental therefor. In every lease 
there must be a lessor capable of granting the land, a lessee capable of 
accepting the grant, and property capable of being granted. The rent 
payable under the lease may be in money, services or anything of value, 
which is the subject of sale or transfer. 

A 99-year leasehold is merely an extended form of lease containing 
clauses and provisions for the safeguarding of the interests of both the 
lessee and lessor, and providing additional clauses of agreement which will 
care for future conditions beyond the life of the present parties to the 
lease. 

The wording of clauses in a 99-year lease are framed according to the 
requirements to be met. In almost every lease there is some special feature 
to be embodied, so that it is difficult to find a form which will adapt itself 
to all purposes. Often the parties to the lease use some form that is a 
matter of record and copy verbatim the provisions, with the result that 
some important features are left out of their lease, which should have 
been embraced, leaving cause for misunderstanding and legal construction 
at a future date. I would strongly recommend the preparing of a form by 
a competent attorney experienced in such legal documents, and to leave no 
opportunity for future generations to doubt your wisdom and business 
ability. 

While the forms of 99-year leaseholds differ, yet the principle is quite 
the same, and the clauses identical in purpose. I shall treat my subject by 
presenting it in three parts: 

First. The form of leasehold. 

Second. The purpose. 

Third. The benefits. 

I recommend a brief and concise form of lease, with terms not am- 
biguous, but easily interpreted, and with no sections or clauses which may 
seem to be in any way conflicting. In preparing a long-term ground lease, 
they should be made in duplicate, the original and the counterpart; the 
form should contain: 

1. Where the lease is made, and the date. 

2. The parties to the lease, the lessor and lessee, or first and second 
parties, giving names in full. If a corporation or partnership, it should be 
so stated. 

3. The covenants to run with the land, should be binding on parties 
to the lease, their heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, as is written 
after the words lessor and lessee in each instance. 

4. A statement that the lessor or first party leases to the lessee, or 
second party, certain lands or tenements. 

5. Accurate description of the property, by metes and bounds or by 
recorded plat, as complete as possible. 

6. Give the terms of the lease, from date of beginning to expiration. 

7. A clause covering the rights of present tenants or unexpired leases, 
if any, to be assumed by lessee. 

8. The rent agreed upon, with terms of payment, stating specifically 
whether a fixed rental or revaluation. 

80 



9. Clause covering payment of taxes, both general and special, together 
with all legal assessments, whether now a lien or hereafter levied, beginning 
with the taxes dating from the term of the lease. 

10. Clause covering the payment of rent, in gold coin or its equivalent. 

11. Clause covering provisions for future taxation on ground rents to 
be paid by lessor or lessee. At the present time such ground rents are so far 
as can become taxable only in operation in the State of New York, on leases 
extending over a period of twenty years. 

12. A clause covering the lessee's agreement to comply with all the 
laws and ordinances affecting the premises. 

13. Clause covering the liability and protection of lessor against claims 
for damages through legal action. 

14. Clause covering building to be erected, the cost, type, and the 
matter of keeping the same in repair and proper condition. 

15. Clause covering the bond required pending the erection of the 
building. 

16. Insurance clause protecting lessor by insurance to the value of 60 
to 75 percent against fire, and the depositing of the policies with agreed 
trustee, and agreements after the adjustment and payment of fire loss, for 
the application or distribution of the money; also clauses covering the 
rebuilding, the time when construction shall commence and be completed, 
and forfeiture clause for nonfulfillment. 

17. Clause covering selection of trustee, as holder of policies, and party 
to whom loss shall be made payable, and suitable provision for securing 
new trustee in case original trustee retires or refuses to serve, which is 
ordinarily, in case the parties fail to agree on the appointment, done by 
some designated court selecting, within a limited time, another trustee. 

18. Clause covering labor claims and mechanics' liens, requiring the 
premises to be kept from the same by lessee, and in case of dispute that 
the same be paid within ninety days after declared a valid lien by the court 
of last resort. Such claims, generally speaking, only operate as liens on 
the interest of the tenant, but in the State of Ohio and possibly elsewhere 
there have been attempts made to also give the liens on the estate of the 
lessor. 

19. Clause providing where rental shall be paid, and notice by lessor 
to lessee in case of change of place of payment. 

20. Clause covering the conditions upon which an assignment of the 
lease can be made, which should specifically provide that no assignment 
shall be valid unless all lessee's engagements for the past have been per- 
formed, and unless those to be performed in the future have been expressly 
assumed by the assignee and evidence of such fact has been given to lessor. 
If the lease requires the construction by the tenant of a building of sub- 
stantial character on the property, it is a common provision that upon the 
assignment of the lease after said construction, the lessee, if not otherwise 
in default, shall be relieved from personal liability on the covenants of lease, 
the lessor looking to the assignee and to the improved condition of the 
property as their security for the payment of the rents. 

21. Clause giving the lessee right to alter and destroy building, and 
erect another under specific time agreement on giving proper bond, naming 
amount and cost of new building. 

22. Clause giving lessor the right to possess premises on failure of 
lessee to carry out agreements, and covering the forfeiture of improvements. 

81 



23. If required, clause covering the mortgage, with agreement that 
certain proportion of rent be deposited with trustees to meet mortgage 
obligation. 

24. Clause covering the disposition of the improvements at the expira- 
tion of the term of the lease. Some leases provide that at the expiration 
of the term, all buildings and improvements erected upon the leased premises 
shall be surrendered to the lessor, but it is now becoming the common 
practice, at least in the city of Cleveland, to make this clause more equitable 
to the lessee. 

As I shall show hereafter, I think that it is quite as much to the interest 
of the lessor as to that of the lessee that provisions be made in the lease 
for some equitable recognition and payment to the lessee of the amount 
that the buildings and improvements standing upon the leased premises at 
the expiration of the lease, add to the value of the land. In most of the 
leases now drawn, provision is made that at some time during the last year 
of the term, an appraisement shall be made of the land, and of the buildings 
and improvements, separately. For the protection of the lessor, it is fre- 
quently stipulated that the value of the improvements so fixed shall in no 
case be more than the amount that such improvements enhance the value 
of the land, the usual clause being that the appraisers shall fix, first the 
value of the land without the improvements, and second the value of the 
land with the improvements, and that the difference between the two 
valuations shall be taken as the value of the improvements. 

It is usual to provide that after the appraisement has been made, 
the lessor shall have the option for a certain time to purchase the improve- 
ments at the expiration of the lease by paying the value thereof as deter- 
mined by the appraisal. In some leases it is provided that in case the 
lessor does not elect, within the time therein provided, to purchase the 
improvements, the lessee shall have the right to purchase the land at the 
appraised value. In other leases, provision is made that in case of the 
lessor's refusal to purchase the improvements, the lessee shall have the right 
to take an extension of the lease, either for the further period of ninety-nine 
years or for some lesser period, the rent during the extended term to be at 
a certain rate based upon the appraised value of the land. 

Another clause used in some leases provides that in case the lessor 
shall not elect to purchase the improvements, the lessee and lessor shall 
become tenants in common in the entire property in proportion to the ap- 
praised values of the land and buildings, and that they shall exchange proper 
conveyances so as to vest in each party the fee simple title to his propor- 
tionate interest in the entire property including lands, buildings and improve- 
ments. The result of such a clause would be that in a case where the land 
was appraised at $100,000 and the improvements at $50,000, the lessor would, 
at the expiration of the term and in case he failed to elect to purchase the 
improvements, become the owher of an undivided two-thirds interest of 
the entire property and the lessee would become the owner of an undivided 
one-third interest in said property. 

25. If privilege of purchase of the leased premises is a part of the 
agreement, a clause fixing a time for exercise of the privilege and giving 
amount of purchase price and terms of payment. 

26. Liquor clause, to cover any agreement embraced in the negotiation 
preventing the use of the premises as a place for the sale of intoxicants. 

27. Forfeiture clause, if rent is not paid within a fixed time, varying in 

82 



different leases from sixty days to six months, ninety days as a general rule. 

In conclusion, the lease should be signed and executed before a proper 
authority, witnessed and a notarial seal affixed, as in a deed or mortgage. 
A full abstract of title should be furnished by the lessor and carefully ex- 
amined by the lessee, or his attorney, that all liens and incumbrances on the 
property may be noted and provided for under the agreement, before execut- 
ing the instrument. Upon the completion of the execution of the lease and 
the delivery of the bond, one copy of the lease should be made a matter 
of public record. 

The lessee should furnish proper bond covering the amount of the cost 
of the building, and the carrying out of the building clause. There is no 
regular printed form of bond of this character; they are all written prac- 
tically to cover the conditions of the lease, reciting the particular conditions 
required. The charges by the regular bond companies require a payment of 
ten dollars per thousand per annum; as in the lease, the conditions vary in 
the bond. 

The matter of the amount of rent agreed to between the parties to the 
lease should be the result of careful negotiations based upon the present 
worth of the property and upon the ability of the lessee to meet the obliga- 
tions and carry forth the terms of the agreement. The revenue is known 
as ground rent, a certain agreed sum of money which the grantor of the 
land reserves to himself to be paid at regular periods out of the land con- 
veyed by lease. 

Any valuation based upon present facts and conditions alone, is not 
complete, due consideration of past influences and future prospects being 
necessary to determine the worth of the land, and those should be thoroughly 
considered by the parties entering into the lease. The purpose of 99-year 
leaseholds on the part of the lessor is the entailing of his property rights 
and interest through leasehold, as the safest and surest way of providing an 
income for himself and the generation to follow. The lessor on making 
his will often provides that the fee shall not be sold, but held in trust by 
some responsible trustee, with authority to pay over to designated heirs 
certain sums from ground rents sufficient to provide them with a com- 
fortable maintenance. Many trustees of estates and investors seek the 
fee under ground leasehold, believing it is the safest form of investment 
where the property has been improved by lessee, with care and due con- 
sideration to the section. I believe that an option to purchase clause, at 
an agreed figure, during a fixed term of years, adds greatly to the value 
and negotiability of the leasehold, it being easier to secure a loan on the 
lessee's interest if such a clause is embodied in the lease; while a fixed 
purchase price is generally placed at an amount in advance of the present 
market value of the land, it is proved that the improvements placed thereon 
and the changing of the property by improvements to a higher class has 
stimulated an advanced land value which will accrue to the lessee under 
his purchase clause, but which would be of no advantage unless this clause 
was available. 

A straight term leasehold at an agreed rent is the safest and has proven 
the best. Reappraisal leaseholds have proved cumbersome and unsatisfactory. 
The improvements placed on the land vary in accordance with the ideas 
and requirements of the lessee, but should be from one-fourth to one-half 
the value of the land. Liquor clauses are both beneficial and detrimental. 
My experience tells me that liquor privilege clauses should not be inserted 

83 



In a leasehold where property is in the best retail section, the keeping out 
of such clauses enhances the value of the land and if generally adopted by 
all property owners in that section retains its high class retail possibilities 
and value for a longer period. 

The natural growth of cities, with increasing land values, has made the 
conservative operation in leaseholds in the business section the safest form 
of speculation in real estate, for those of limited means. In many of our 
larger cities, where leaseholds are in effect, a large percentage of the busi- 
ness section is under lease. That this percentage will grow is evidenced by 
its success, and I believe that 99-year leaseholds are really in their infancy. 
I contend that there is as much science in the study and operation of land 
and its development as in medicine and other professions. Scientific land 
development is In its beginning, and scientific principles should be adapted 
to land development and operaton as they are applied to any other valuable 
commodity. 

The effect of 99-year leaseholds has shown a most substantial develop- 
ment In sections which have been improved in the city of Cleveland through 
this method of operation. The erection of fine buildings of a better class 
has had much to do with our rapid business expansion and growth. As in 
most cities the finest retail development follows the best residential develop- 
ment, so where there is the highest rental from business property we find 
the best retail section patronized by women from the highest class resi- 
dential section. 

You are quite aware that in all of our cities we find in the business and 
mercantile sections old homesteads entirely surrounded by business develop- 
ment, the owners of which properties occupy them and keep them for senti- 
mental reasons. They are unwilling to part with the fee and unable to 
improve the property in keeping with the surroundings. You will find, 
however, that these owners are quite approachable with a proposition to 
lease their property for a long period, where their interests are properly 
safeguarded and where they receive an assured Income. Sentiment alone 
has prevented them from disposing of their property. We do not take 
away from them that sentimental interest; they still retain their fee and 
generally yield to the proposition of a long leasehold, if presented in a proper 
and logical manner, and with a lessee financially and morally responsible, 
capable of carrying out the provisions of a lease. The erection of a building 
immediately enhances the value of their land, and the owner Is more secure 
In his investment than If he had erected a building on borrowed capital, 
which might be subject to long vacancy or mismanagement. We now find 
the lessor content with his fixed Income, secured by valuable Improvements, 
or by a bond guaranteeing them, and the lessee content with the property 
upon which he erects a building according to a defined plan and purpose. 

At the present time rents for a fixed period in sections where values are 
advancing, are estimated at five and six per cent on a valuation somewhat 
higher than the present staple value of the property. In other sections, 
the rents are generally based on a like percentage of actual salable value. 
It is customary to give the lessee a rebate of one-third to one-half of the 
first year's ground rental, where lessee constructs building during the first 
year's period of the lease. The commisslbh receivable from the sale of 
the property based upon the standardized rates of commission of the city, 
applies to ground leaseholds, the commissions being based on a valuation 
of a five percent Income and payable out of the first year rents. In reality 

84 



a 99-year leasehold is a transaction by which the lessee acquires the property 
of the lessor in the ownership, and borrows from the owner the full value 
of the property for a fixed period at an agreed rate of interest, with no fear 
that his loan will be called, providing he pays the rental agreed as interest. 
It means that an investor with limited capital, seeking high class property 
as a location for a building, requires through leasehold only one-third to 
one-half the capital necessary for the completion of his plans through out- 
right purchase. Through leasehold he secures land without cost excepting 
interest charges and taxes, and uses all his capital for the improvement, 
having the landowner virtually as a partner in his enterprise. In our city 
not many young active men have money to purchase outright land required, 
but by securing a lease they are able to secure a safe, although sometimes 
speculative investment, which if wisely chosen advances in value rapidly. 

In modern times when anybody starts out to inaugurate some enterprise 
it becomes most important to finance it to the very best advantage. By 
judicious selection of property in the pathway of business expansion, the 
lessee is able to secure on a fixed rental leasehold containing a purchase 
clause, a loan of fifty percent of the value of the improvements. As an ex- 
ample of the benefits to the investor or lessee, assume that he has but 
$50,000 for his total investment, instead of being obliged to purchase land at 
the value of from thirty to fifty thousand dollars, and have but a proportion 
or none of the remainder left for improvements, he is able to lease a prop- 
erty of the value of fifty thousand dollars, and place his total amount of 
casTi in buildings which will yield him a larger proportion of revenue, and 
create an increment on his leasehold value, due to the erection of a higher 
class of building, which naturally stimulates activity in that section, and 
enhances the value accordingly. 

It is wise for the lessee to secure occupants for the building before 
entering into the lease. No one can forecast the future development of the 
section beyond a limited time, and caution should be used in selecting the 
locality of a particular property and agreeing to pay a fixed rental, unless 
the property carries itself or can be immediately developed and treated as 
an investment proposition. Great caution is necessary In leasing In sections 
where development is drifting and values are not due to real business ex- 
pansion. The tendency of the optimistic real estate operator to anticipate 
values in advising his client is one to be carefully guarded against. 

The most successful leaseholds to the lessee are those in which he has 
first worked out a definite plan of action, has arrived at a comprehensive 
cost of the building to be erected, and secured tenants to occupy the prem- 
ises at a rental which will cover the ground rental and taxes. The operation 
of a successful business in the building naturally enhances the value of the 
property, adding the increment to the lessee's interest. 

Great care should be exercised in the erection of a building covering 
land where separate and adjoining parcels are under lease to one lessee 
from more than one lessor. Arrangement of the building, wall and columns 
should be made so that the units of space are properly divided propor- 
tionately over the line of the respective ownership. It is a regrettable fact 
that years ago a lessee in the city of Cleveland in acquiring two adjoining 
properties through leasehold, erected his building as one unit in such a 
manner that the columns carrying the structure were not so spaced that 
the buildings, if divided, would be in sections of uniform width. Through 
flnancial difficulties thp lessee defaulted on one of tlie parcels of laud, and 

35 



one lessor was obliged to take over that portion of the building covering his 
property. The entire building was unfortunately so divided that this por- 
tion covered by the separate lease was not tenantable without the placing 
of a partition wall so close to one row of columns as to deprive the property 
of some of the value which its frontage on the street would have given it 
had it been constructed with reference to such frontage. 

I recall a number of instances in Cleveland where the interest of the 
lessee is more valuable in a leasehold right than that of the lessor, or 
owner of the fee; notably a property on Euclid avenue and East Ninth 
street, where a 99-year leasehold was made in 1887 at $6,000 per year for 
a fixed term of ninety-nine years. The land has advanced in value so far 
beyond the anticipations of the owner or lessee, that today the lease is 
worth at least one million dollars. I understand the fee cannot be purchased 
for less than five hundred thousand dollars, although in reality it yields but 
five percent interest on $120,000. 

Another example of profit is on 110 feet on Euclid avenue east of Ninth 
street, which I leased in 1906 for $16,000 for the first 9 years, $18,000 for 
the next 2 years, and $20,000 for the balance of the term. I recently offered 
the lessee a rental of $32,000 per year net for the property, or six percent 
on $200,000 profit, or five percent on $240,000 profit, or could have secured 
$200,000 in cash for the leasehold. This was refused. It was truly a hand- 
some profit for a few years' possession of a property which has almost 
carried itself by rents received during that period. There are instances 
upon instances where great profits have been made in acquiring 99-year 
leaseholds, and where some of the largest commissions ever paid to brokers 
have been received. A number of the finest oflSce and mercantile buildings 
and a hotel in Cleveland are on ground leases. The new Statler hotel, 
erected at a cost of more than two millions of dollars, on land at the 
corner of Euclid avenue and East Twelfth street, at a fixed rental of 
$32,500 per year, is one of the recent acquisitions under ground leaseholds 
which I have made. A million dollars on bond issue was borrowed by the 
lessee toward the erection of this building, the remainder being supplied 
through the sale of preferred and common stock, the proceeds from which 
went into the erection of the building before the million dollars borrowed 
from the banks and trust companies on bonds followed. 

One notable lease of unusual character is known as the Cleveland "sky 
lease." I believe this lease to be the only one of its kind in existence in 
the United States. A magnificent 14-story structure, the home of the Cleve- 
land Athletic club, and some of Cleveland's largest retail stores occupy the 
building. The frontage of 150 feet on Euclid avenue was leased for a 
straight term of 99 years at $28,000 per year net, with an option of purchase 
clause. The lessee immediately erected a 6-story building with foundations 
strong enough to carry several additional stories. After completing the 
building he leased the air space above the sixth floor, and the support of 
the walls and columns of the lower structure, to the Cleveland Athletic club 
for the balance of the term of the original lease at a rental of $16,000 per 
year, and the club immediately completed a seven-story addition to the 
building at a cost of more than half a million dollars. This rental Included 
entrance for elevators to the top building, and some space in the basement. 
The Athletic club pays a fixed annual rental. It pays no tax on the land, 
but on a portion of the building erected by it. At the termination of the 
lease the owner of the fee agrees to pay the appraised value of the Improve- 

86 



ments, or extend the lease for another period of years. In case of failure of 
the original lessee to carry out the terms of the underlying lease, the Athletic 
club is secured through an option to assume the original lease. 

By studying carefuly the marked path of business expansion the lessee 
can always be safe in his investment. I have always been impressed with 
that well-thought-out statement of Richard N. Hurd in his book, "The Prin- 
ciples of City Land "Values," where he states that the "growth in cities con- 
sists of movement away from the point of origin in all directions except as 
it may be topographically hindered, this movement being due both to aggres- 
sion at the edges and pressure from the center. Central growth takes place 
both from the heart of the city and from each sub-center of attraction and 
axial growth pushes into the outlined territory by means of railroads, turn- 
pikes and street railroads. All cities are built up from these two influences, 
which vary in quantity, intensity and quality, the resulting districts over- 
lapping and interpenetrating, neutralizing and harmonizing as the pressure 
of the city's growth brings them in contact with each other, the fact of 
vital interest being that despite confusion from the intermingling of the 
utilities the order of dependence of each definite district on the other is 
always the same. Residences are early driven to the circumference while 
business remains at the center, and as residences divide into various social 
grades retail shops of corresponding grades follow them, and wholesale shops 
in turn follow the retailers, while institutions and various mixed utilities 
irregularly fill in the intermediate zone and the banking and office section 
remain at the main business center. Complicating this broad outward move- 
ment of zones, axis of traffic project shops through residence areas, create 
business sub-centers where they intersect and change circular cities into 
star-shaped cities." 

Bearing this in mind you can with safety advise the lessee in the selec- 
tion of property, knowing that if a definite plan is followed on a location 
within the pathway of business expansion, and the lessee keeps within his 
financial ability he will be successful. 

One of the most satisfactory liquor clauses that I have ever seen em- 
bodied in a lease, provides against the sale of intoxicating liquors, at retail, 
except as the same may be sold in connection with a hotel, restaurant, drug 
store, or other kindred business, to which such a sale of liquors shall be 
incidental merely, and shall not in any case suffer or permit such liquors 
to be sold or dispensed over a bar, except in connection with the use of the 
premises for the purposes of a hotel as the principal business, and that no 
main entrance to such place shall be located upon the street upon which 
the property fronts. 

I am indebted to Honorable J. M. Henderson, one of Cleveland's repre- 
sentative and foremost real estate lawyers, for legal advice in the prepara- 
tion of this article. He advises me that one of the most beneficial provisions 
of a lease is the one which secures a very full measure of payment to the 
lessee for buildings which are on the premises at the expiration of the 
lease. Many lessors are in this respect short-sighted and unwilling to 
assume that kind of an obligation for full payment for buildings, which is 
absolutely necessary if the buildings are to be kept in the best possible con- 
dition throughout the term or replaced if they are out of date. Nothing will 
depreciate the value of a city lot more rapidly than to have old, out-of-date 
buildings upon it or in its vicinity, and as long as the landlord is unwilling 
to make full payment for structures on the land at the expiration of the 

87 



lease, it will generally be to the tenant's interest to let the buildings run 
down and never to replace old ones with new during the later years of 
(he term. 

The effect of allowing old or ruinous or out-of-date buildings to remain 
on the land, is to depreciate the value not only of the particular lot, but of 
the adjacent or contiguous lots by driving business into more attractive 
sections, and if there are a number of buildings in any particular section 
which are thus allowed to become unattractive as business places, it is very 
certain that business will go elsewhere. 



PART III 

Accounting and Reports 



System of Comparison Records 

By C. M. Duncan 

IN a little book that came to my desk I found this statement: "It has 
been well said that the average business executive fails to get more 
than a small fraction of the vital facts and figures that he should have 
to intelligently control the activities of the business." 

Bankers and mercantile agencies tell us that more business men fail 
because of ignorance of the true condition of their affairs than for lack of 
ability and enterprise. The writer just quoted further asserts that "the 
desire to dodge the expense and trouble of the necessary system that would 
bring such vital statistics to the executive's desk has created this condition." 
A survey of most any field of enterprise would disclose the dominant posi- 
tions occupied by the concerns whose executives first realized the value of 
shaping their policies and basing their lines of action not upon inspiration 
or guesswork, but upon definite, accurate information of the various phases 
of the business under their control. 

Whatever may be the attitude of the majority of our profession, the 
men who are responsible for the success or failure of the building enter- 
prises of the country, it is certain that in no other field of business activity 
is it more important for the managing executive to know where he stands 
every minute of the time. 

Very shortly after assuming the management of the State Bank Building 
in Little Rock, Ark., I found myself most uncomfortably hampered by the 
meagerness of statistical information afforded by the accounting methods 
then in force, and I immediately set about devising a system of accounting 
that would yield the information required for the intelligent direction of the 
business. 

A certain accounting authority defines an efiicient accounting system 
as "an orderly and logical arrangement by simple processes of the facts 
and figures of the business so that it may concentrate into clear and concise 
statements a complete expression of the activities and conditions of that 
business." This concentration into concise statements is the subject with 
which I have to deal. 

The "complete expression of the activities and conditions," in case of 
the State Bank Building, is brought before the manager each month in the 
shape of ten reports, enumerated as follows: 

A statement of the rental income. 

A statement of occupancy. 

A comparative condensed balance sheet. 

A comparative profit and loss statement. 

A statement of receipts and disbursements. 

Four comparative analyses of operating expense in the four operating 
departments. 

A summarized analysis of operation expenses. 

These may appear to you a formidable array, but I think that not one 
can be wisely dispensed with. 

91 



statements of Occupancy and Rentals. 

The statement of rental income is shown in Figure 1 herewith. It is 
a complete record of the movements of tenants into, out of, and about within 
the building, and the effect of these movements and changes on the occu- 
pancy and income. It is made up on the first day of each month. The 
statement here presented, dated May 1, 1912, shows that J. D. Jones is to oc- 
cupy from that date room 601-2, under lease No. GOl. This results in the addi- 
tion of two rooms and 500 square feet to the number of rooms and the space 
occupied respectively; also an increase in rental income of $55.00 over the 
month preceding. The same idea is carried out in recording removals. 



Sr>|TE SANK BPILPINC COMPAHY 

Rental Statement, 



9-^-7' 



Gain 
LofiS 



Net Gain-LosB 



Totals by Occupancies of 
rotels by Occupancies of 



FIGURE 1. 

Under the head "Changes" are recorded the transfers of tenants from room 
to room, changes in rent, etc. Thus, the totals under the heading "Addi- 
tions" give the number of rooms and the area being occupied on the first' 
of the month, and the monthly revenue to be derived therefrom. The 
totals under the heading "Removals" give the number of rooms and area 
vacated on the first of the month, and the decrease in revenue due to these 
vacancies. Changes may result in an increase or a decrease. The net 



92 



gain or loss in the number of rooms, occupied area, and total monthly rental 
derived from occupied area are added to or subtracted from the total number 
of occupied rooms, the total occupied area and the rental revenue as shown 
in the rental statement of the previous month. The results are the total 
number of rooms and the total area occupied on the first of the current 
month, together with the total rental income to be derived from that occu- 



lt 



J31<inojo SI 30VdS IV-IOJ. jJO 9i WO 

SlKOOa XMWOVA NMOHS SOVciS JO 

"Qaa Ni AS asi^ivoiaiNi aonvsva 

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FIGURE 2. 



pancy for the month. The figure for the total monthly revenue thus derived 
is used as a check against the sum of the rent bills sent out on the first of 
the month. The statement of "Occupancy" is shown in Figure 2. The 
arrangement indicating the floors and rooms in tabular form is not new and 
requires no explanation. Each column representing a floor is divided by a 

93 



vertical line. The areas of the various rooms on the floor appear in the 
lefthand space. In the righthand space the occupancy or vacancy of each 
room Is indicated by appropriate symbols. The condition of each floor is 
then summarized at the bottom of its column, giving the total, the rented 
and the vacant area in terms of rooms and square feet and the percent of 
each. Having the areas of the different rooms conveniently entered ma- 
terially assists in this compilation. The same summarization is applied to 
the office space as a whole. From records of previous periods the increases 
or decreases over the previous month and the same month of the previous 



r" 



STATE BANK BUILDING CO. 

PROFIT AMD LOSS STATEMENT 


- 


DTP-, 
























191 




















THIS YEAR 


LAST YEAR 


THO YEAR 


LAST VCAR 1 


INCOME 












































1 










9-ri FROM auiLOtNG RENTS 






































1 
















9-12 FROM SALE OF CuaBENT 














































1 










9-13 FROM SALE OF HEAT 








































- 


- 






L 








__ 


9-1* FROM SALE OF REFRIGERATION 








































9-lB FROM SUMDBV SAL.E3 


























































































































































1 










- 






















































1 








































































































^ 


- 






r 


9-31 SAO ACCOUNTS COLLECTED 








































1 


1 


GROSS income: 








































j 


1 












001 -a DEDUCTIOMS FROM INCOME 
























































t-4E:-r income: 
























































EXPENSE 


























































NOIM- OPERATING EXPENSE 


























































001 -n GROUND RENT 












































- 


- 










-■< 


0OI-I23 INTEREST- MISCELLANEOUS 




















































001-13 TAXES 










































1 












OOI-K LEGAL EXPENSE 










































1 












001-15 INSURANCE 


























































OOl-ie TAXES PAID- UNDISTRIBUTED 


























































001-17 INTEREST ACCRUED ISM. PAID 1912 


























































001-19 MISCELLANEOUS 


































- 


• 




- 


... 














































































































































































































































001-3 DEDUCTtONS FROM SURPLUS 


























































-roTA,i_ 


























































DEDUCT- ITEMS OF EXPENSE NOT 
^HOFERLV CMAROABLr TO PERIOD 


























































TOTAL NON-OB EXPENSE FOR PERIOD 
























































OPERATING EXPENSE 


























































01- GENERAL 


























































08- BUILDING DEPT. 


























































03- ELEVATOR DEPT. 


























































04- JANITOR OEPT. 


























































OS- GENERAL SERVICE OEPT 


























































TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSE 


























































TOTAL EXPENSE FOR PERIOD 
























































EARNIN&S BY OPERATIONS 
























































DEDUCT- INTEREST ON BONDS 
























































APPftO. TO REOEKIPTION FUND RESERVE 
























































-ro-rAt_ 




















































NEX PROFIT - PERIOD 












1 














1 
















1 




ITEMS OF EXPENSE NOT CHARGABLE TO PERIOD 


._ 



















































































FIGURE 3. 



year are noted. The basement and first floor space are treated separately in 
their proper columns, but are included in the grand summary, which shows 
the total rentable area, the total rented area, and the percent of rented 
area in comparison with the corresponding figures for the same month of 
the previous year. The total rented area as figured on the rental income 
statement described serves as a check against the figures obtained on this 
statement of occupancy. 

Comparative Profit and Loss Statement. 
The score card of the business game is the profit and loss sheet, and 

94 



your skill as a player is judged in the light of circumstances by the dollars 
and cents you are able to chalk up as profit on the right-hand side. In 
these piping times disastrous consequences follow so closely upon the heels 
of a misplaV that it is not sufficient to total up the score once or even twice 
a year. 

There are few businesses that would not benefit by an accounting system 
so designed that a complete profit and loss statement and a balance sheet 
could be drawn from the books every thirty days. This is a practice in 
our office. 



— 


STArF, BAHK BDILDIDG COMFABT 




CooparatlTe CondorEOd Balanoo Sheet 191 






ASSETS 


This Year 


Laat Tear | I 


1-10 
2-10 


Xsaaehold 

Coat of Building and Equipment 






















£-191 

2-lOE 


Additions and Bettermenta 
Poplaoomanta 






















3-1 


Cash 






















8-2 
3-3 


Botea Rooelvablo 
Aooounta PooolTable 






















3-4 


Fnel-Haterlal-Suppllea In Stort 






















3-B 


Exponas Frepald 
























LIABILITIES 1 1 


4-10 
4-30 


Firat Mortgago Bonda 
Seoond Mortgago Bonds 






















5-10 
5-21 
B-22 


BotoB Payable 

Audited Vouobara Pajrabla 

Aooousts Bayabls 






















5-3 


Expense Aoorued 






















6-10 
6-20 


Resarve for Eedomptlon Fund 
Reaorvo for Doproolatlon 






















7-10 


Capitol Stoo* 






















a -10 


Surplus 

Balance 191 
Eat Front 1?1 


















1 



FIGURE 4. 

We have in use the comparative profit and loss statement exhibited in 
Figure 3. It really embodies four statements, covering the current month, 
the current year to date, and for purposes of ready comparison, the same 
periods of the previous year. The profit and loss statement is made up as 
soon after the first day of the month as the income and expense entries 
applicable to that month are on the books. 

It would be useful here to outline the accounting methods applied to our 
property, but the time will not permit. In this connection, however, I must 
describe briefly our method of classification and distribution of income and 



95 



expense. It is generally asserted by accounting authorities that, in the 
development of an accounting system with the idea of making it yield 
statistical information, classification of income and expense is of prime 
importance. Once a system of classification is determined upon, it must 
be adhered to If comparative statements are to be of any value. Some 





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FIGURE 5. 

accountants even go so far as to maintain that an erroneous classification 
strictly followed out is of more value than one that is constantly being 
subjected to changes and corrections. 

The treatment of income is simple. Our income is derived from six 
sources : 



9t 



Building rents, 

Sale of current, 

Sale of heat. 

Sale of refrigeration, 

Sundry sales, 

Miscellaneous, 
and is classified accordingly. Each classification of inconae is represented 
by an account in the general ledger. They all appear under the head of 
"Income in the Profit and Loss Statement," and their total, together with 
any bad accounts collected, makes up "Gross Income." Any refunds or 
allowances that may arise are not charged direct to the income accounts 
on the books, but go into an account termed "Deductions from Income." 
On the statement the total of these deductions is taken out of the gross to 
give the net income. 

In considering the matter of expense, an inspection of all the different 



^T/.T5 UAj:K iiUILDINC COM?MIY 
?.uj'JT'.Rci7.e<] AnalyflB of Qpnrnt.ir.f EXDBnHS fnr Til 








This 
Year 


Last 
Year 




This Year 


mO. 
Last Year 




a 
1 

1 


a-Lobor 

b-Oporatlrg maintoranos 4 Pop. 

o-Eitraordinsry Papolr 

Total Halntonanco 4 Fop. 

t'-l ^"«^ 

h-GsB-Bullding Service 

l-El6otrlo Current-Power 

J- " " -Big. SaiJs 

Ic-Lamp Renewals 

1-Clty ITater 

n-Lubrloanta-WaBte-Paoltlng 

n-Uleol. Supplies t Toole 

o-Asaosla 

p-ABh Disposal 

A-BubblBh Oiaposal 

B-Slevator Unlforo Service 

X«MlIior CoEtt. h Alterbtio]^ 






























Total He partEsntal 






























General Operating £zpasi« 






























eait-l £?3S-»fctn?5 F^sng* 




















1 









FIGURE 6. 

varieties of expense we had to meet discovered the fact that certain of 
these expenses were independent of the occupancy of the building, and would 
continue though the house be empty and idle, while others arose directly 
as a consequence of its operation and occupancy, though not proportionate 
to the extent thereof, and would immediately cease with the building emptied 
of its tenants and closed. Here, then, we may establish two groups: 

Non-operating expense, including such items as taxes, insurance, de- 
preciation, interest and the like. 

Operating expense, including wages, material and supplies, bills for 
various sorts of outside service, maintenance and repairs, etc. 



97 



We arbitrarily separate the operating expense into two groups — general 
and departmental. 

General expense includes the salary of the manager, ofnce expenses, 
advertising, expense of night watchman and certain miscellaneous items. 

The plan upon which our operating force is organized furnishes the basis 
for the distribution of departmental expense between the four departments. 
The distribution up to this point is made on the voucher register and each 
sub-division is supported by a general ledger account. The expense of each 
department is further subjected to an analysis, as will be shown later. 
The profit and loss statement shows for itself the way these various classi- 
fications appear. 

Interest on bonds and appropriations to the bond redemption fund are, 
strictly speaking, non-operating expenses, but are treated separately as 
shown. 

We have shown as a deduction from the total non-operating expense 
certain items of expense not properly chargeable to the period. This ex- 
pedient was made necessary by the change from our old accounting system 
to the new, and is not of importance here. 

If the comparisons between monthly periods in statements of this kind 
are to be of any value, it is important that each month of the year be made 
to bear its proper proportion of the year's expense. To illustrate this point 
in connection with non-operating expense, consider the case of insurance. 
Suppose premiums for a year are paid in advance in January to the amount 
of $1,200. While this amount of money has been expended in January, we 
have yet to receive protection in return for it, and it is, in a sense, an 
asset. It should be charged to an account called "Insurance Premiums 
Prepaid," and $100 transferred every month to the cost of insurance as an 
expense. Expenses of similar nature should receive like treatment. In 
the case of expenses such as taxes and interest, proportionate monthly 
accruals should also be taken into account. The yearly appropriations for 
depreciation or for retirement of bonds should be distributed in propor- 
tionate monthly quotas. It was formerly a practice in the State Bank 
Building to charge the cost of large lots of fuel, material and supplies direct 
to the operation accounts. This practice would destroy the value of com- 
parative statements, and now a balanced inventory is maintained. The cost 
of consignments of supplies is charged to an account called "Material and 
Supplies." Issues are made only on requisition and the storeroom keeps an 
account of each department. The value of material and supplies used in any 
department in a month is charged up to that department at the end of the 
month from these accounts. Thus, the cost of material and supplies enters 
the operating accounts only as they are consumed. 

The handling of coal on this principle is a more complicated proposition. 
We burn natural gas under our boilers and are saved any worry on this 
score. The bills for this fuel are rendered monthly and the distribution takes 
care of itself. 

Statements of Receipts and Disbursements. 

We have as yet no form for these statements. They are made up on a 
ruled multi-volume blank sheet such as is obtainable from any stationer. It 
is well to note that receipts are not the same thing as income, as we use 
the terms, nor is the expense for any period the same as expenditure. We 
speak of Income in the same sense as the merchant speaks of sales, that is, 

98' 



our income accounts include not only the amount we have actually received, 
but what we expect by virtue of the obligations of others in our favor. 

Expenditures are made not only to meet current expenses, but for re- 
placements, additions, betterments, and the like, and such expenditures are 
charged to property accounts. And certain items of expense accounts on the 
books represent accruals only, but not expenditures. 

The Comparative Condensed Balance Sheet. 

The form of Figure 4 is our Comparative Condensed Balance Sheet. 
You will note, among the accounts representing fuel, material and supplies, 
also the account representing prepaid expenses, expenses accrued but not 
due are carried as a liability. 

Analysis of Expense. 

There are some twenty-five accounts appearing on our general ledger, 
exclusive of the income and expense accounts. It was, therefore, thought 
unwise to complicate the general ledger entries by carrying the operating 
expense distribution into the general ledger further than to separate them 
on the departmental basis. The departmental expense accounts are analyzed 
monthly on four forms, of which Figure 5 is typical. This particular form 
is an analysis of the expense in the general service department, and shows 
our classification of that department's expense. 

The expenses of the other three operating departments are analyzed 
on forms similarly ruled, but different as to classification. Expense in these 
departments is classified as follows: 



Building Department Expense: 

a — Labor. 

b — Operating Maintenance and Repair. 

c — Extraordinary Repairs. 

d — Supplies and Small Tools. 

X — Minor Construction and Alterations. 
Elevator Department Expense: 

a — Labor. 

b — Operating Maintenance and Repair. 

c — Extraordinary Repairs. 

i — Power. 

m — Lubricants, Waste, Packing. 

n — Supplies and Small Tools. 

u — Uniform Service. 

X — Minor Construction and Alterations. 
Janitor Department Expense: 

a — Labor. 

n — Supplies and Small Tools. 

s — Rubbish Disposal. 

These forms are designed to bring the items of the current month into 
comparison with the items of the same month last year, and columns are 
provided for entering the increases or decreases. The accumulated totals 
of the various items for the current year to date are also compared with 
those of the previous year. The different varieties into which the depart- 
mental expense has been separated are summarized in the form of Figure 6, 
and are subject to the same methods of comparison. 

99 



This is the summarized analysis of operating expense. Here the cost 
of labor, cost of maintenance and repairs, the cost of power and other 
varieties of expense in all departments are brought together into totals. 
You may have noticed certain figures and letters accompanying the captions 
of various accounts and classifications. These are symbols in the scheme 
of codification that embraces our entire system of accounts. We find them 
a great time-saver, especially in the work of auditing bills. One soon learns 
the symbols applying to the different accounts, and it is much more con- 
venient, for instance, to write, "08-lOb," meaning operating, maintenance 
and repair, in the general service department, than to extend the caption 
in full. 




100 



Systematic Records and Reports 

By Whitney Wall 

[BELIEVE that you would call ray office a "central agency" for the man- 
agement of buildmgs. I not only look after improved properties, but I 
also do a general real estate, loan and insurance business. I have in 
my charge several improved properties, but will confine this article to the 
office buildings, which are three in number. 

Number one. A building which is located on a corner, ground floor 
space being 50x140 feet, and eight stories high, slow burning construction. 
The machinery consists of two hydraulic elevators with duplicate machinery 
complete, with sufficient boiler capacity to run said elevators and heat the 
building. The electric current for lighting of halls and engine room is 
bought from the Edison people, each tenant making his own contract with 
these people for his light. 

Number two. A building which is located in the middle of the block, 
facing on two streets, and has a ground floor space 100x115 feet, six stories 
high on one street and seven stories high on the other. It has the same 
number of elevators and the same machinery as building number one, and 
the electric current is furnished in the same way as in building number three. 

Number three. A building which is located in the middle of the block 
and fronts on two streets, and has a ground floor space of 50x115 feet, is 
twelve stories high on one street and thirteen stories on the other. This 
building is a thoroughly fireproof building, constructed of steel, with terra 
cotta floors and partitions. Its machinery consists of three elevators, three 
tubular boilers of 150 h. p. each; one Skinner engine of about 50 h. p., belt 
connected to a Three Rivers electric generator, 40 k. w.; one Skinner engine 
of about 80 h. p., direct connected to a Westinghouse generator, 50 k. w., 
and one small American Blower Company vertical engine of about 25 h. p., 
direct connected to a Crocker Wheeler generator of about 15 k. w. All of 
the engines and generators have been installed sirce I have taken charge 
of the building, which was about five years ago. In fact, all of the buildings 
and all of the machinery generally have been thoroughly overhauled and put 
in first-class shape. In building No. 3 we have the Armstrong flash signal 
on the elevators, and we do considerable outside heating and lighting. 

When I took charge of these buildings they were all in a dilapidated 
condition, and tenants were paying about what they considered was right in 
the way of rent, and all of them were rented at a less rate than 50 cents 
per square foot, and about one-third vacant. Number 3 gave light free. 
Therefore you can readily see that they could not have been a paying invest- 
ment. Without going into detail relative to the trouble and the worry a 
person has in building up buildings with a poor reputation, I will go right 
into the subject of blanks used in the operation of same. 

First of all is the securing of tenants and in running three buildings 
from one central office, especially when the buildings are not of the size 
that will permit the employment of a superintendent in each building, it is 
absolutely necessary to have some sort of system whereby the central office 
will know what is going on during the day. 

101 



We have a blank for this purpose (of which we keep a carbon copy), 
which is known as a "permit." 

No new tenants move in or old tenants move out or change offices; no 
carpenter, painter, electrician can do any work; no telephone can be installed 
or removed; no gas or electric meters installed or removed without a permit 
issued to the engineer or janitor, said permit being returned to the office 
the next day with notation on same if any damage was done. All telephone, 
gas and electric companies know that this permit is necessary and always 
call for it before starting any work. 

After securing tenants, next comes the rent collection question, and I 
have found it good policy in a number of cases to make the rent a little 
higher than schedule so as to give a discount if said rent is paid before the 
15th day of the month. As an example: Make your rent, say $32.50 per 
month, with the notation that if said rent is paid before the 15th day of the 
month a discount of $2.50 will be allowed. You can not charge a penalty 
because it would be usury, but you can allow a discount as large as you 
want. No one can complain of the plan because they are all expected to 
pay rent in advance, in fact agree to do so in their leases. If they complain, 
you can make up your mind they are poor pay, and you do not want them 
anyway. This method has saved us considerable trouble and loss of rent. 

Relative to repairs, I have a blanlt which is issued to the man or de- 
partment who is to make the repairs, telling what the repairs are that are 
to be attended to, the number of the office, and this is filled in with the 
name of the employe in charge of the work. After the work is finished, the 
tenant fills in the blank, after remarks, and signs his name. I then know 
that the work has been taken care of, that the tenant is satisfied with it, 
and when he comes to me a week or so afterwards and says that he com- 
plained about his door being out of order, his shades torn, and that he had 
reported same a week or two ago, I can, by referring to this blank, show 
him that the work was done, and that he had signed that it was satisfactory. 

The next blank is a blank known as the rental ledger sheet, which is a 
loose leaf binding, and which I have used for the six years I have been iu 
the office building business, transferring the sheets as soon as the tenant 
has left us to the transfer book, and therefore have a history of every 
tenant that has ever rented from me relative to his paying ability. 

Now the elevator question. In the three buildings I have seven eleva- 
tors and practically ten operators, as a janitor runs an elevator during the 
noon hour. I have no starters. The operators are supposed to be under 
the direction of the engineer, but as he is below most of his time and busy 
with other matters, he cannot watch elevators all the time. I have not in 
six years had an accident of any sort, but I have had complaints from 
tenants relative to conditions that they thought were unsafe, such as loose 
doors and other little things that might cause trouble if not taken care of. 
I would, on receipt of this complaint, immediately see the janitor and ask 
him why he did not report same. Of course he had reported it to some one 
in the office, or the engineer; in fact, every one, but it had not been 
fixed, etc., and I could not find any one who had heard of it. To correct 
this I now compel every one who runs an elevator to make a written 
report every night on the blank furnished for that purpose, and the operator 
has no excuse to offer, and in case ho himself should meet with any acci- 
dent he can not blame it on faulty machinery, loose doors, slack band cable 

102 



or anything else. It matters not how many elevators an operator runs, he 
is to make a report for each one. 

Janitor Service. — We have a head janitor in each building. This man 
hires all other janitors, and he is held responsible for the appearance of the 
building, has charge of all supplies, does some repairing, and most of the 
painting. Janitor service costs us on an average a little less than eight 
cents per square foot of the rentable area, and this includes most of the 
labor for painting, all window washing, and all scrub women. Head janitor 
makes report. These reports contain: "Were any accidents reported or 
heard of about the building?" An employe might hear of an accident being 
talked of, not knowing the name of the person who was hurt. 

The next blank is a report of the mechanical department, which is filled 
out by the chief engineer. 

A report is made relative to the hours each piece of machinery is run. I 
have in my office a book called the machinery book, which gives a descrip- 
tion, name of manufacturer, shop number of the machinery, and size of every 
part, and at the end of every month we put the number of hours that this 
machinery has been in service, and the number of hours it has been out of 
service. Then on another sheet, directly opposite this sheet, we have the 
repairs, if any, that were made to this piece of machinery, and the date 
and the cost of same, so that we know just what our machines are doing, 
and whether they are doing the work that is required of them, and whether 
they are being properly taken care of, because if a machine is constantly 
breaking down it is either receiving poor care or is of poor quality. This 
system is kept on all of our machinery. 

ENGINE NO. 2 (Belted). 

Duty Run 40 Kw. Three Rivers Generator. 

Manufacturer Skinner Engine Co., No. 7300. 

Horse Power 40 to 50. 

Diameter of Cylinder 9 inches. 

Length of Stroke 10 inches. 

Revolutions per Minute 260 to 300. 

Governor Wheel Diameter 48 in. ; Face 8 in. 

Belt Wheel Diameter 48 in.; Face 12 in. 

Width of Belt 11 inches. 

Diameter of Steam Pipe 3 inches. 

Diameter of Exhaust Pipe 3^/^ inches. 

Diameter of Crank Pin 4 inches; Length 2% inches. 

Diameter of Cross Head Pin 2^^ inches; Length 2^4 inches. 

Diameter of Main Bearings 3^^ inches; Length 7% inches 

Width of Engine Over All 3 feet 11 inches. 

Length of Engine Over All 7 feet 6 inches. 

Approximate Weight with Iron Base.. 5, 600 pounds. 

Installed July 7th, 1907. 

Value $750.00. 

Complete Set (10) Wrenches. 

One Monkey Wrench. 

One Adjustable Tram to preserve ad- 
justment. 

One Set Grease Cups (6). 

One Hand Oil Pump. 

GENERATORS. 

Brushes 16 

Manufacturer Three Rivers Electric Co 

Number 37,501. 

103 



Kilowatts 40. 

Amperes 320. 

Volts 125. 

R. P. M 825. 

Wound Compound. 

Installed July 7th, 1907. 

Value .$450.00. 

SERVICE (Started July 7th, 1907). 

Year. Hours in Service. Hours Out of Service. 

1907 3,190 5,570 

1908 8,045 715 

1909 7,745 1,015 

1910 2,785 4,975 

1911 



22,765 12,275 

January 200 544 

February 229 443 

March 367 377 

April 407 313 

May 364 380 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 



1,567 2,057 

The coal that is used is weighed by the wheelbarrowful, and runs about 
230 pounds to a wheelbarrow. I have not yet learned of any other city that 
uses coal in the same manner as in Duluth. If you do not know, you should 
know that Duluth is the distributing point of coal for a large part of the 
United States; the coal coming to Duluth in boats is loaded from the boats 
on the docks, and on these docks it is cleaned and screened, and we are using 
in our buildings what is known as anthracite dust, which screens about the 
same size as rice and finer, and Youghiogheny soft coal screenings, which 
come in the shape of dust, with particles about as large as a walnut, but 
most of it is fine like sand. We wet and mix these two coals together. A 
number of buildings burn two of the soft and one of the hard ; some of them 
burn one part hard and one part soft. We are burning and have been burn- 
ing, three of the hard and one soft, and we have burned as high as four to 
one. In burning the coal in this manner we make no smoke at all, and it 
cuts the cost of our coal down considerably, for the reason that we pay $3.35 
per ton for soft coal screenings and $2.10 a ton for hard coal ; therefore, when 
it is burned three or four to one, a noticeable saving is made. 

In speaking of cost, I will say that where we have used two of soft and 
one of hard the cost has been $2.93; where we have used half hard and half 
soft, $2.72; where we have used two hard and one soft, $2.51; where we have 
used three hard and one soft the cost has been $2.41, and where we have 
used four hard and one soft the cost has been $2.34. 

The engineer always reports the reading of the general water meter, and 
as we know about what it should be from day to day, if it is larger all hands 

104 



are immediately put to work to find the leak. The water used in the boiler 
is also metered; that meter is read. The k. w. meter is read on the switch- 
board, showing the amount of current used. He then checks the other build- 
ings heated, and checks those to whom we are furnishing the light, so that 
we can always check up our coal bill in case it is larger one day than an- 
other. He states on the bottom of his report whether any machinery has 
stopped on account of breakdown, and on the back of same he reports the 
supplies received and where they were used, or to be charged, and the name 
of the firm, the repairs needed, and the repairs made, signing same on the 
bottom. 

As far as the engineer's report is concerned, we have found that when 
it became necessary to refer back to anything that happened in the past, that 
the introduction of figures stating what had been done, and what was being 
done did not seem to fit the case as it should, therefore we adopted the sys- 
tem of charting on paper what had been done, thus being able to place before 
the engineer or fireman a picture of what had been done in the past, and 
what was being done now, instead of making a comparison with a long string 
of figures. Another thing that has worked out very satisfactorily is bul- 
letin boards, which hang directly alongside of my desk. These boards con- 
tain the office numbers of every office, and opposite each number is inserted 
a card, which, if occupied, contains the name of the tenant. On the back of 
this card is the amount of the rent that the tenant pays, and the expiration 
of his lease. If the oflfice is vacant, the amount of rent per month is stated 
on the card. 

I have in all now some 225 tenants, and it is impossible at times to 
remember all of their names. When a man comes into the office and I know 
he is a tenant, and I cannot recall his name, I ask him the number of his 
office, and by looking from my desk at the chart I can immediately call his 
name, and in this way I have found this office board register to be a very 
helpful device to be used in an office like mine, for the reason that it con- 
tains nearly all of the information that a manager would like to know. 

"We have a daily chart showing the consumption of coal for the k. w. 
hours of electric current made, the general house water meter, the boiler 
water meter, and the maximum and minimum temperatui-es, which I keep 
under glass on my table. We keep a regular coal balance, which is balanced 
and checked from the tickets and bills at the end of every month. This bal- 
ance shows the amount reported consumed, the amount on hand, and the 
amount received, as follows: 

BUILDING NO. 3. 

Coa! Report, April, 1311. 

Dust. Screenings. 

Dr. Cr. Dr. Cr. 

Coal on hand, April 1st 3,000 4,000 

Received N. W. Fuel Co 85,900 24,300 

Received N. L. Fuel Co 76,300 41,600 

Reported burned 166,100 56,700 

On hand May 1st 8,000 2,000 



165.200 174,100 69,900 58,700 
Not accounted for 8,900 11,200 



174,100 174,100 69,900 69,900 
105 , 



N. W. Fuel Co.— 

Dust 85,900 lb. .42.95 T.(a.$2.25. .$96.64 

Screenings 24,300 lb . . 12.15 T.@ 3.35 . . 40.68 

110,200 55.10 T. $137'.32 

N. L. Fuel Co.— 

Dust 76,300 lb.. 38.15 T.(n)$2.25.. $85.86 

Screenings 41,600 lb. .20.8 T.@ 3.35. . 69.69 

117,900 58.95 T. $155.55 

Total Coal Consumed — 

Dust : 157,200 lb . . 78.6 T.® $2.25 . $176.85 . . . .70% 

Screenings 67,900 lb. .33.95 T.@ 3.35. 113.73. . ..30% 

225,100 112.55 T. $290.58 

Blank "H." 

Since the year 1907 I have kept charts of the coal from the balances as 
shown, and the temperature, by the month. When I first took buildings Nos. 
1 and 2 they were buying coal that was supposed to be mixed, two of soft 
and one of hard. Later on they were supposed to be delivering it half and 
half, and charging us on the basis it was supposed to be mixed at, that is, at 
the rate of $2.10 per ton for the hard and $3.35 per ton for the soft. I had 
the coal companies start in January, 1907, in all three buildings, to deliver 
the coal separately and we to do the mixing ourselves. We weighed the coal 
out by the wheelbarrowful, and endeavored to get the firemen to mix it 
three to one, that is, three hard and one soft. They had a hard time in get- 
ting started and it was not until the month of June that they all got running 
in the path they should run in relative to the percentage, and they continued 
this percentage until January, 1910, when, without a word of warning what- 
ever from the coal companies, our hard coal was shut off. In Duluth it is 
practically impossible to make a contract for coal. The prices are all the 
same, and the coal companies do not even approach you relative to making 
a contract. In fact, they do not want to make a contract, but are all willing 
to sell you coal at the one price, no less. 

Now, the next question, when you get to burning three of hard and 
one of soft, is whether or not your consumption is increased, therefore to 
watch this we make a chart monthly showing the consumption of both kinds 
of coal. If you burn a larger quantity in making a mixture you are not sav- 
ing any money, as you are making a mixture of three to one to save money. 
The quantity must not be increased. There may be a chance that the weather 
is cooler, and that it is necessary to burn a larger quantity. We, therefore, 
refer to our mean minimum temperature chart, which shows the weather for 
every month, etc. 

Relative to these charts, a few of the people who have visited my office 
have made the remark, "Are not these reports and the chart business a lot of 
trouble and extra expense? In other words, is it not a hobby more than a 
necessity? We do not see that you get any real benefit from it." 

The real benefit derived is this: Fii'st of all, if you are careful and 
methodical in the way that you perform your work, your clients know that 
you are endeavoring to manage your buildings at the least possible expense. 
Then, again, it is much easier to show an engineer and fireman or a janitor 
what they are doing with a chart, showing the ups and downs by lines, than 
it is showing them a long string of figures. Figures puzzle them, whereas 
a chart is a very simple thing, where you state to them when the line is up 

106 



that this represents your coal pile is so much larger than yesterday, the day 
before, or so on; you did not make any more light; you, of course, used 
more water, and the temperature was not any colder than it was the other 
days. Now, there are your reports drawn out in lines. What is the trouble? 
Can it not be fixed? 

It is much easier to show them than with figures. Figures to some 
men do not mean much, and at the same time they are in evidence on 
these charts. 

Then, again, your owner comes in and with these charts always before 
you it is much easier to show him than it is to get out a large number of 
reports and go over them to show him the whys and the wherefores. In 
fact, although they look like a lot of work, the work in connection therewith 
does not amount to half of the trouble that it saves, and in time I hope to 
have everything charted and hung on the wall in my ofiice. 

One of the most interesting charts to most people is the chart showing 
the rental value of the building for each year; that is to say, what the build- 
ing is bringing in per square foot if every office is occupied. You can 
show the vacancies, the delinquent rents and the lost rents, and on the same 
chart also show the gross amount received from the building for each year. 
This chart shows how simple it is to explain to the owner what you are 
doing by saying, "Here is what the building earned in 1908, here is what 
the building earned in 1909, and here is what the building earned in 1910." 
Its earning capacity has been increasing each year, and while it has been in- 
creasing, your delinquent rents, your lost rents and your vacancies have not 
been any greater. 

It is easy to increase the rents. The next thing is to keep your tenants. 
These buildings when I first took them were renting for less than fifty cents 
per square foot, so you can now see for what they are renting. I have 
started with the year 1908 for the reason that in 1908 a new building, 50 
feet front by 115 feet deep and seven stories high, of steel construction, 
modern in every detail, was built, and that year I lost out of my buildings, 
all three of them, only two tenants. In 1910, a sixteen-story building, 50 
feet front and 115 feet deep, modern in every detail, was built. I lost that 
year four or five tenants out of all my buildings. In 1911 a six-story build- 
ing, modern in every detail, and the same ground floor space as the others, 
was opened up and I am glad to say I only lost two tenants. 

I believe that I owe my good luck in keeping tenants by adopting a 
method or system by which I am able to keep track of what is being done, 
and when they visit my office and see these charts, which are under glass 
on the walls and on my table, they know that every effort is being made 
relative to the operation of the buildings, and that I am in touch with what 
is being done. I have always found it wise and more economical in the end 
to give the tenants repairs that they are of the opinion they need, that are 
within reason, and in return I have had tenants go out of their way to bring 
into my office a man who is seeking a location, recommending to this man 
that he go into one of the buildings in my charge. 



107 



Accounting System for Office Buildings 

By Edwin Wasserman 

THE subject of accounting for office buildings is probably one of the 
most vexing questions which office building managers have to confront. 
The manager must know each month the results of all operations of 
the building, and the information must be such that the expenses are 
kept under proper control by intimate knowledge, so that any extravagant 
or unnecessary expenditures may be prevented. 

The office building which I represent is known as the Pacific Building, 
Market and Fourth Streets, San Francisco. During the time of the erection 
of this building (which occupied less than one year) a great many duties 
devolved upon me in the way of supervision of the details of construction 
for the Pacific company. 

During the time of construction I was aware, of course, that I should 
be put in charge of the building after its completion, and it seemed to me 
that a good system of accounting was a first necessity. I therefore 
evolved and installed the system to which I am calling your attention (with 
a few minor changes which have been deemed advisable in the light of 
actual experience). 

The question of keeping the keys of a large office building (I may say 
here that the Pacific building has 560 offices) in proper manner is the first 
thing that confronts one. The system that I have adopted is as follows: 

When the locks were received from the manufacturer there were three 
keys for each lock. As soon as the locks were placed in the building, I had 
every key stamped with the number of the room. For obvious reasons, I 
did not wish to use arable figures which indicate the room number, I there- 
fore adopted a cypher, replacing the numeral digits by alphabetical letters. 
Instead of usifig the ten first letters of the alphabet, however, I adopted 
the practice in vogue in a great many stores, of using some simple cypher 
word — such as "Black Shirt" — in this case it will be seen that key number 
135 would bear the cypher B. A. K. and so on. If, therefore, a key is lost 
in the building and subsequently restored to the office, the number of the 
room can be easily Identified and the key restored. 

In some cases a larger number of keys are desired by the tenant or a 
key might be lost. To provide for this contingency, instead of having the 
keys made outside, I bought a key machine from a Chicago hardware con- 
cern, costing me about $20, and with the aid of this machine a new key 
can be turned out in the engine room within a few minutes. As the total 
cost of this duplicate key would be about six cents, and we charge from 
twenty to twenty-five cents, it can be readily seen the key-making turns us 
in a little profit. 

Of the three keys which come with the lock, one is placed in the office 
of the building on a properly numbered rack, and two placed in a small 
envelope. When the keys are taken from the envelopes and turned over 

108 



to the tenant a receipt is obtained on the envelope and remains as a charge 
against the tenant until Iveys are returned by tlie tenant. These envelopes 
can ail be placed in a small 4x5 cabinet of four drawers capacity, or less, 
according to size of building. The object of keeping one key in the office 
at all times, on the rack, is for the purpose of duplication only. 

For the purpose of keeping accurate record of the income of the build- 
ing, we use a card with as many columns as there are floors, and as many 
lines as there are offices on each floor. The card accommodates sixty-six 
offices on each floor. This card when properly filled at the beginning of 
the month, indicates the total income for the month of each i-oom, each 
floor and a summary showing the income from the entire building. The 
total is charged to an account in the ledger called "Tenant Account." An 
auxiliary tenants' card ledger is also used, which contains the following 
information: Name of tenants, date of lease, room number, and monthly 
rate. This card is ruled up in months and as there are eight sections on 
the card each section accommodating entries for twelve months, the one 
card v/ill take care of a tenant for eight years. On the first of each month 
these cards are posted up with the amount of rentals and later, when the 
bills ai'e paid, the paid date is inserted as well as the sum paid. The 
balance of any one card shows the amount due from that particular tenant. 
The balance of all the cards equals the balance appearing in the ledger in 
the Tenant Account. In the Tenant Account of the ledger there will be but 
two principal entries a month; one total of debits and the other total 
amount of cash received. The tenant ledger card is placed in a "ceme- 
tery" as soon as the lease has expired, the tenant has left the building and 
delinquent rents have been paid. This is done for the purpose of keeping the 
ledger filled with only live matter and makes the card ledger less cumber- 
some. 

As soon as bills and pay rolls have been properly approved and passed 
upon, a voucher is made out and the bills or pay roll are paid by the 
issuance of a check. On the margin of the checks is a little statement form 
showing the date of the bill paid by the check and the explanation of the in- 
debtedness. It is not necessary to get a receipt from the payee or the em- 
ploye as the fact that the checks must be endorsed before payment secures 
good evidence of the receipt of the payment for the purposes named on the 
face of the check. These checks are numbered in numerical sequence and 
I have found it to be most advantageous to use the ''Bconomik" system of 
check books, the simplest plan of check register that I have met. The sheets 
of the check register are numbered to agree with the checks themselves. 
The checks have no stubs and it requires little mental effort to get into 
the habit of always writing the particulars in the check register before 
making out the check. 

The Cash Journal. 

The cash journal is the main book of entry for everything appertaining 
to the building. The explanation column is placed in the middle of the 
page, and of the other columns the middle one on each side is marked 
"cash." The balance of these two columns shows the balance of the bank 
account, the credit side being balanced with the check register; the voucher 
number is in each case the number of the check covering payment. On 
the debit side of the cash journal is a column marked expense. In this 

109 



column are placed all items except those which require individual ledger 
posting. On the credit side there is a column marked "tenant account," 
and the total of this column monthly is posted to the tenant account in 
the ledger and forms the main credit of that account. Journal entries are 
made as may be necessary, but inasmuch as the cash is always kept separate 
and in its own columns the system obviates the objections offered by ac- 
countants to having a combination cash book and journal. 

As the close of the month the column marked "Expense" is segre- 
gated into the necessary subheadings such as "elevator cost," "pay roll," 
"repairs," "supplies," and such other items as may be deemed necessary 
for purposes of keeping accurate information as to sources of expenses and 
comparative expenses from month to month according to the maintenance 
sheet. 

The information obtained from this column is embodied in the monthly 
report of the building which is submitted to the directors of the company. 
The report shows revenue from rentals and from other sources on the one 
side, and expenditures covered by miscellaneous expenses for the upkeep 
of the building on the other side. The difference of these two columns will, 
of course, show the profit or loss for the month. The expenditure column 
does not show actual cash expenditures in certain items of overhead ex- 
pense, such as insurance or taxes. For the purpose of accurate statement of 
profit or loss, taxes, which are paid in two installments, are placed to a sus- 
pense account and each month one-twelfth of the total amount of the taxes 
is included in this overhead expense. The same method of prorating is fol- 
lowed in the posting of insurance items. On the report there is also a 
financial statement which shows the actual cash movement for the month 
and an additional statement is included showing overdue rentals, com- 
piled from the tenant's ledger. 

The maintenance record supports the report just mentioned, and sets 
forth in items the various expenses for elevators, pay roll and so forth, prop- 
erly segregated. 

The maintenance record and the monthly report should be on thin paper 
so that carbon copies may be made to accommodate each of the directors 
with a copy. 

The insurance carried in an office building includes protection against 
fire, casualty, elevator, boiler and plate glass losses. 

In the matter of insurance it will be well so far as possible to arrange 
the policy period so that of the total insurance carried, one-twelfth will fall 
due each month. Such a system simplifies the work of the office building 
manager and the insurance company will cancel and rewrite the policy with- 
out short rating if the object of the scheme is made known to them. The 
system which I have outlined has worked out for me a great many problems 
in a most satisfactory manner. Local conditions, size of building, and so 
forth, will naturally suggest a modification of this system, but if the funda- 
mentals to which I have called your attention are followed, I believe most 
thoroughly that ofllce building managers will be able to get a maximum of 
information and security with a minimum of work, and from what I have 
gathered in talking with other managers, I believe that a simple system, such 
as outlined, eliminates a great deal of anxiety and worry. 

The main points of the system are the tenant's card, the building rental 
card and the combination cash journal. Entries in detail are made but once 

110 



and then in the cash journal. On the card the entries are of the simplest 
form and take very little time. The monthly and maintenance reports give 
in totals and detail just the information that the directors require and pro- 
vide essential data only. The ledger is kept free from unnecessary postings, 
as in the majority of accounts there is but one entry and the ledger accounts 
are reduced to a minimum. 



Ill 



Various Systems for Keeping Office Keys 

THE t'oilowiug data in regard to keeping keys lias been collected from 
various sources for the benefit of those interested in knowing how 
others are doing: 

One of the leading Chicago managers has the following to say: 

"I find that the simplest, easiest, and most convenient way is to get a 
large brass ring, about eight inches in diameter, with a hole in the center 
small enough that the janitor cannot hang it on the knob of the door, and 
have a number of small holes bored around the edge, then attach each key 
to the ring by a short steel chain. Those key rings are kept on a rack in 
my superintendent's office. No one has access to them except the superin- 
tendent. He gives them to the different janitors when they start out on their 
work at night and they put them on their belts. 

"We have a key to each room. No one has a right in that room except 
the superintendent and janitor. In case of fire or leakage of steam, or breakage, 
we have a right to go in. A master key might get into the hands of some- 
body else. If a key or a ring of keys should be lost, I can take every cylinder 
out and change the locks around so that nobody would ever be able to make 
use of the keys. 

"In regard to the new keys, when the locks were put in I had the con- 
tractors put the keys in the box in which they came and put the room num- 
ber on each box; three keys came with each lock. Those were turned in to 
my superintendent and he filed them by numbers, in a box in a drawer file. 
He puts one key on his large ring; the other two keys are kept on file in 
the boxes until the room is rented. It does not take up as nauch room as you 
may suppose; it takes up very little. 

"In the matter of extra keys, when order is received for a key, it is 
filed; the key is made. After the first two keys are furnished the tenant 
pays 25 cents for each subsequent key. The ladies' toilet is open all day, and 
at six o'clock at night it is closed and locked. No one after that goes in 
except the janitors who clean the premises." 

Another manager in a western city contributes the following to the dis- 
cussion: 

"We have a little system for keys that may be interesting. We had a 
key tag made, which is, in appearance, like a hardwood tag instead of being 
a piece of paper; this was doubled over with an opening at the end. When 
the key is not in use it is turned back and slipped into the envelope and, 
on the outside of that envelope, the marking of the building, the room num- 
ber, etc., are kept in a card index, as your card index is your key file, and 
your key file is your key tag." 

Here is another system installed by an Ohio manager: 

"The proposition I have with keys is a big counter in my room and up 
alongside of that counter is a cabinet built full of pigeon holes, with a 
sliding glass door, and up on the cross pieces above each box is the number 
of the room starting from 101 and running to 1001. We have about 100 
rooms in our building. In each of the pigeon holes are three keys, and a 

112 



little slip of paper, and on top of that paper is the number of the room. 
John Smith comes in and gets three keys; he puts his name on the slip and 
it is put up into the pigeon hole. The minute I go to the pigeon hole and 
find there are only two names on the card and no third key, I know someone 
is at the office. When the janitor wants to go into a room that is not oc " 
cupied, we make a temporary note showing where that key is, and when it 
is placed back into there, of course that slip is destroyed. 

"I keep another record of the keys in a book, separate from this case, 
showing the number of the room and then the key number. There is gen- 
erally a little number placed on there; it would probably run pretty large, 
the factory number of the keys, but I keep the room number and the factory 
number, and the factory number might be 9620, and if I should find a stray 
key with that number, instead of trying all the doors in the building, I 
simply refer to that book and find where that key belongs. 

"In reference to the superintendent of the building, I carry a general 
master key to all rooms, but the general superintendent only carries a 
master key to the separate floors. For instance, my key will fit the store 
room ori the first floor, and he has no key to that. 

"I believe the key arrangement I have there is very satisfactory. You 
can put your hand on any key in a minute. If you find a stray key, you can 
tell where it belongs." 




113 



PART IV 



Operation 



The Cost of Operating a Building 

By C. A. Patterson 

THE tenant who comes down to his office in the morning has an idea 
that the office building owner is getting wealth at a tremendous rate 
by renting offices at say $1.50 per square foot. 

As the books of an office building are seldom opened to the public gaze, 
and the expense of keeping up a building is hidden from the tenants' view, 
because the engine room coal pile, etc., are out of sight, and the cleaning is 
all done by night. 

The thousands of people who have offices in the modern skyscraper or 
have occasion to visit one on business, seldom have a glimpse behind the 
scenes to see the smooth and orderly running machinery. They only know 
that the elevators are always ready to whisk them up to the particular floor 
to which they wish to go; that the floors and windows are always clean, 
that the lights are always in good condition, and that in the winter the 
offices are always comfortably warm. The tenants leave the offices at night 
littered with papers and in confusion; they come down in the morning to 
find all the litter cleared away and everything in spick and span order. If 
it is not, they growl, and then someone has to get busy. 

It takes a big sum of money to keep everything clean and tidy, the ele- 
vator service up to standard, and all the other details to make the tenant 
comfortable. It is the multiplicity of small expenses that counts in the 
office building. You can tell positively what the great expenses are going to 
be before you have the building erected, and therefore can figure accord- 
ingly. There are other expenses, however, that cannot be absolutely deter- 
mined. For instance, we know that we are going to require a certain 
amount of labor, but there is no certainty what that labor is going to cost. 
We also know what amount of coal we are going to require, but who can 
predict a year in advance the price of coal? 

Suppose, for example, we take an office building representing an invest- 
ment of $1,500,000, including the land. This is by no means over the aver- 
age cost of those now being erected. There are some costing six and eight 
millions. A capitalist should certainly expect ten percent on his invest- 
ment; in fact, he could not afford to tie up this amount of money for less. 
However, let us presume he is satisfied with ten percent, which would 
make a return on his investment of $150,000 per year, provided he rents all 
his space, keeps it rented, and has it all paid for. 

Although a well managed building does not often lose tenants, yet it 
sometimes happens when large tenants erect their own structure or change 
their location to be nearer a base of supplies, etc. "With these things the man- 
ager must contend, which makes it impossible to count very far ahead on 
the entire revenue. 

Here is where big lumps of that $150,000 revenue goes. Taxes and 
insurance eat up easily $35,000, and, although this is probably the largest 
single item of expense, yet there are many others which call for big out- 
lays, Fpr instance, there js the item of coal. The gl^v^^tors must run' wi&« 



ter and summer, but in the summer the consumption of fuel is not as great 
as in winter, because heat does not have to be furnished the offices. Aver- 
aging the cost of coal for a year, the daily consumption would be twenty 
tons each day or 7,300 tons per year. For the sake of comparison, let us 
take the average cost per ton of coal, which is $2.15. This for the year 
makes our coal bill alone $15,695. Sometimes the price per ton will be 
a little lower and sometimes a little higher. A building consuming any 
such amount will contract for its coal by the year, and thus is able to avoid 
fluctuations in price. Users of coal are getting a little wiser than they used 
to be. In the best operating buildings coal is checked up and purchased on 
a B. T. U. basis or some similar method is used to really ascertain the num- 
ber of heat units produced per pound or its evaporating power. A hundred 
pounds of coal, for instance, must evapoi'ate a minimum amount of water. 
If it evaporates more than the minimum it is worth more per ton. Once a 
week a chemist takes the sample of coal and tests it, and on the result of 
this test the price is made. By this method the manager pays for fuel, not 
for slate and slack. 

However, next to taxes, the largest item of expense is that of labor. This 
will easily reach a figure of $30,000 per year, including the office force. To 
keep the building tidy you will have to employ a small army of scrub 
women, who do their work at night. Figures from such a building as we 
described show that they have twenty women employed, six nights a week, 
and each gets $28 a month, which figures out $7,392 a year. Every office 
is swept and dusted every night, many of them are scrubbed, cuspidors 
have to be washed out, waste paper baskets emptied, and then all the halls 
and stairs have to be swept and scrubbed. This is a work that cannot be 
delayed or slighted. The only way in which absolute cleanliness can be 
maintained is by never ceasing vigilance. To help the women in their work 
there are six male helpers at $40 a month each, or $3,280 a year. These men 
sack the waste paper and carry it down to the basement, where it is baled, 
and do various other kinds of work that call for strength and are out of a 
woman's province. 

The night force must be looked after by a responsible head, so a 
superintendent is necessary and in many buildings an additional chief 
janitor. The superintendent must be a good, reliable man, for he has the 
entire responsibility of the building at night. Such a man is worth $1,500 
a year and earns every cent of it. The superintendent has charge of the 
supplies, inspects the work, hires the janitors, scrub women, etc., and sees 
that the service is kept up to standard. 

A big oflBce building has to have a painter for its own work alone, and 
it is often necessary to call in outside help. Every time an office is vacated 
it has to be gone over by the painter, the ceilings and walls done over, and 
woodwork and floors touched up. In the case of long time tenants their 
offices have to be overhauled at regular intervals, so you can readily per- 
ceive that the painter has enough to keep him busy. In addition to the 
offices, the halls have to be kept immaculate. The painter's store room rep- 
resents a good-size store well stocked, for he must have a considerable va- 
riety of paints, white lead, varnish, enamel for painting the iron work, 
resin, and no end of brushes, tools, etc. The supplies for the decorator 
alone will average $3,000 a year. Some years it is much more. Others 
not quite so much, depending, of course, upon the class of building. 

Cleaning the windows might seem a small expense, but here it about 

118 



the way it figures out. It takes the entire time of six men to do this work. 
They begin on the top floor and work down to the bottom until they have 
washed every window, and then they begin all over again. Window washers 
get $40 per month, and they are under the chief janitor, who hires them 
and provides them with safety appliances and all the working tools they 
require. In addition to washing windows they go through all the offices 
and wash and clean all the gas and electric light fixtures. This item rep- 
resents a yearly outlay of $2,880 for wages alone. 

In such a building as we are describing there are six elevators. It is 
necessary to have a man for each car, as well as a starter. These men re- 
ceive a wage of $55 and $60 per month, the starter getting $70. The elevator 
man occupies a responsible position in the office building. He must be 
steady and reliable, because to his carefulness the lives of hundreds of 
people are entrusted every day. He must be intelligent, courteous in man- 
ner and neat in appearance. He will be asked hundreds of questions a day 
about the location of tenants in the building and have to be an animated 
guidepost. Such men are worth a little more every year they stay with 
you, and should be paid on that basis. By the time the manager has paid 
the elevator force each year there isn't much left of $5,000. Uniforms and 
clean linen must be provided for these men, which means more expense. 

The engine room is a never-tiring "dollar eater." The labor expense 
alone is $3,200, of which the chief engineer gets a salary of $1,800, and his 
assistant and fireman cost $1,400 per year. 

Most large buildings have found it economy to keep a carpenter, as 
there is a great deal of changing partitions, repairing, etc., constantly 
needed. This is another item of $3,000, including supplies and labor. 

Sometimes the painter does the carpentry work, but usually there is 
work enough for both. 

Then there is the electrician, who has his hands full keeping the elec- 
trical equipment in first-class shape. Labor and supplies will eat up another 
$3,000 annually. 

We have not touched upon the supply question to any extent, but this 
represents a big outlay every year, much larger than the average person 
would realize. 

For the cleaning alone 26,000 pounds of cleaning powder were used in 
one building last year and 10,000 bars of soap. Scrub brushes and pails 
are bought by the gross and dusting cloth by the bolt; dusters, fioor brooms, 
mops, mop wringers, sponges, squeeges, and a full line of janitors' supplies 
are constantly consumed. 

Managers have found it economical to keep a full line of pumping sup- 
plies on hand. Wash bowls, urinals, closets, seats, tanks, valves, cocks, etc., 
are bought in dozen lots and stored in the stock rooms for instant use. 
Many buildings keep their own plumber and find it a good proposition from 
a financial standpoint. It is difficult to estimate the expense of this de- 
partment, as it varies so widely from year to year, but in a building erected 
several years ago $3,500 is not considered high. 

We have not touched upon the engine room supplies, except coal, but 
besides this, there is oil, usually contracted for several barrels at a time; 
there is waste and packing constantly consumed. 

Other expenses which have been discussed but not itemized will bring 
this total up to $100,000 per year. No allowance has been made for depre- 
ciation of machinery or deterioration of the building. It Is estimated that 

119 



the life of an office building power plant is from 10 to 15 years. A low 
figure of original cost of the plant equipment would be $200,000. The writer 
knows of one building manager that bought last year $85,000 worth of new 
machinery. Ten percent of the equipment cost is considered fair to charge 
off for displacements and repairs, or, in other words, an allowance of $20,000 
is made annually to keep the plant in first-class shape. 

So it will be seen from these figures that it isn't all velvet from the 
owner's standpoint and there is really no form of investment that requires 
the careful watching to make the figures appear on the right side of the 
ledger as does the management of a modern office building. Can one wonder 
why it is that the building managers want to get together every year, com- 
pare figures and study their work more closely? 




^20 



Ratio of Gross and Net Cost of Operat- 
ing to Gross Rents of Office, Loft 
and Apartment Buildings 

By Clarence T. Coley, M. E. 

WHEN I took up my present work several years ago, with Douglas 
Robinson, Charles S. Brown & Co., and was told my business was 
to operate the buildings in their charge with the highest degree 
of efficiency, I saw that the best tool with which to accomplish the desired 
results would be the "deadly parallel" or comparison of figures, derived 
from carefully kept subdivided accounts. Our system of bookkeeping was 
changed so that our accounts are subdivided under twenty different head- 
ings. 

By carefully watching the operation of each building and the classi- 
fication of charges, I am able to give the following percentage of cost to 
gross rents, and costs per square foot, or room, of rentable area, besides 
interesting figures on cost of heating per season, elevator power, and re- 
pairs. 

So far as I know, the information which my figures give, is the first of 
its kind which has ever been compiled, or at least given out as public in- 
formation. 

I wish to warn against the use of my figures in estimating upon the 
probable cost of operating any building which may come before you. They 
cannot be used accurately, unless the person doing so knows exactly the 
conditions under which they were made, and the property under consider- 
ation corresponds in detail with the original. I have had the satisfaction 
of estimating upon the cost of operating proposed buildings from the plans 
by the use of similar figures — backed up by my experience — and seeing the 
actual cost of operating the finished building follow my estimate very 
closely. 

I also use such figures extensively in estimating upon the proper cost 
of operating old buildings which have been extravagantly run, and the re- 
sults obtained after my recommendations were put into effect proved very 
gratifying to the owners, as well as to myself. My success in the use of 
figures derived from actual economic operation of buildings developed a new 
branch for us in the appraisal of costs of building operation. 

I have done a considerable amount of that work in New York. People 
come to us to find out what the probable cost of operating a new building 
will be before they put their money into the venture. Also a great number 
of owners of old buildings which are not doing as well as they should, come 
to us to see what the remedy is. We are the Doctor. We recommend the 
remedy. 

All the following figures given are averages of the actual costs of oper- 
ation during the last three fiscal years, under our management. All of the 
buildings are over eight years old, so that all newness has won off and the 

121 



repairs are at their normal working point. No selection was made with 
regard to favorable results, but with regard as being typical of a class or 
type of building. I do not consider these figures showing extraordinary 
records, but as figures obtained from the results of actual unpretentious 
operation. 

We will consider the subject under the three classifications: Office 

Buildings, Loft Buildings, and Tenement or Apartment Houses. Tenement 

is a general expression applied in New York to any apartment house. Any 

house containing more than two families is generally known as a tenement. 

Under the first class I have considered three distinct types: 

Large, high class financial office buildings. 

Large commercial office buildings. 

Small modern (insurance and general) office buildings. 
The second class includes: 

High grade semi-fireproof loft buildings. 

Medium sized non-fireproof loft buildings. 
The third class (tenement houses) includes: 

Old style non-fireproof, high class apartment houses. 

Modern semi-fireproof, medium grade apartments. 

Good grade non-fireproof flats. 

Large, High Class, Financial. 

Highest type office building in New York. 

Heavy duty for elevators. 

Over twenty stories high. 

Very liberal supply of electric light. 

Hot, cold and refrigerated water. 

Large quantity of marble and brass to polish. 

Complete mechanical plant. 

Kept up to high state of repair and reliability of operation. 

Tenants: Bankers, stock brokers and lawyers. 

Cement floors in offices. 

Large Financial Office Building. 

This building is properly located. We have not had a vacancy in the 
building for the last four years. The location of this building is its chief 
asset, so the loss of rents and loss by vacancies is nil. Rentable area, 
111,022 square feet. Cubical contents, 2,600,000 cubic feet. 

Gross rents $316,841.65 

Vacancies and loss of rents 0.0 

Engine room labor, repairs and supplies to gross rents 6 % 

Coal and removing ashes to gross rents 5.37% 

Elevator labor, repairs and supplies to gross rents 3.1% 

Janitor labor and supplies to gross rents 5.2% 

Electrician's labor and supplies to gross rents .625% 

Supervision (supt. and agents' comm.) to gross rents 3.2% 

Building repairs and improvements to grors rents 5.3% 

Insurance — fire, boiler, accident, plate — to gross rents -46% 

Water tax to gross rents -78% 

City genera! taxes to gross rents 18.1% 

Sundries to gross rents -25% 

Gross cost of operating to gross rents 48.385% 

Net cost of operation (gross taxes) to gross rents 30.285% 

122 



Engine room repairs and supplies to coal bill 57% 

Cost of repairs and supplies per elev. per annum $589.86 

Janitor's supplies to janitor labor 8.8% 

Electricians' labor to electrical supplies 33.6% 

Average gross rent per eq. ft. of rental area $2.85 

Cost of engine room labor, supplies and repairs per sq. ft. of 

rentable area .173 

Cost of coal per square foot of rental area .153 

Cost of elevator labor, supplies and repairs per sq. ft. of rent- 
able area .08% 

Cost of janitor's labor and supplies per sq. ft. of rentable area.. .149 

Cost of electric labor and supplies per sq. ft. of rentable area. . .017 

Cost of supervision per sq. ft. of rentable area .093 

Cost of building repairs and improvements per sq. ft. of rent- 
able area .15 

Cost of insurance per sq. ft. of rentable area .013 

Cost of water per sq. ft. of rentable area .023 

Cost of taxes per sq. ft. of rentable area .516 

Cost of sundries per sq. ft. of rentable area .008 

Total cost of operation per sq. ft. of rentable area 1.382 

Return to owner per sq. ft. of rentable area 1.468 

Percent net return to book value of investment 3.62 

"Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum — $389.86." It costs 
between $500 and $600 to repair one elevator a year. That is a modern ver- 
tical type, hydraulic piston elevator. 

"Janitor's supplies to janitor labor — 8.8%." The ratio between the cost 
of supplies and the cost of labor is 8.8%, that is high. I want you to remem- 
ber that point, 8.8%. I will show you other buildings which are much 
cheaper because they are not of that high, exacting nature. 

Large Commercial Office Buildings. 

Obsolete type of office buildings. 

Large, slow speed elevators. 

Under fifteen, over ten stories high. 

Large tiled halls. Considerable waste space in halls and courts. 

Wooden trim. Small amount of brass to polish. 

Moderate demands for light. 

Complete mechanical plant. Well kept up. 

Building kept up to good state of repairs. 

That is the only thing that saves that building — the fact that we give 
first-class service as far as we are able with the tools that we have to work 
with, and that the building is now in a good state of repairs. 

Tenants: General commercial business. 

A large space occupied by owners. 

Wooden floors in offices. 

Large Commercial Office Building. 

Eleven elevators. 

192,687 square feet rentable area. 

Contents, 7,076,300 cubic feet. 

Large space occupied by owners, 35,000 ft. space. 

$150,000 rent. Wooden floors in all offices. 

Gross rents $413,840.00 

Vacancies and loss of rents 3% 

Engine room labor, repairs and supplies to gross rents 2.43% 

Coal and removing ashes 3.48% 

Elevator labor, supplies and repairs to gross rents 2.82% 

123 



Janitor's labor and sul)plies 6.07% 

Electrician's labor and supplies to gross rents .77% 

Supervision (superintendent's and agents' commissions) 2.25% 

Building repairs and improvements, Imp: :R: : 1: :3 3.87% 

Insurance -84% 

Water tax to gross rents .55% 

Sundries .48% 

Taxes to gross rents 15.02% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 41.08% 

Net cost of operation (gross taxes and vacancies) 23.06 

Engine room repairs and supplies to coal bill 31.8 

Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum 432.00 

Janitor supplies to janitor labor 6.1 

Electrician's labor to electrical supplies 11.2 

Average gi'oss rent per sq. ft. of rentable area 1.82 

Cost of engine room labor and supplies and repairs per sq. ft. 

of rentable area .044 

Cost of coal per sq. ft. of rentable area .063 

Cost of elevator labor, repairs and supplies per sq. ft. of rent- 
able area .051 

Cost of janitor's labor and supplies per sq. ft. of rentable area. .110 
Cost of electrician's labor and supplies per sq. ft. of rentable 

area .014 

Cost of supervision per sq. ft. of rentable area .036 

Cost of building repairs and improvements per sq. ft. of rent- 
able area .071 

Cost of vacancies per sq. ft. of rentable area .035 

Cost of insurance per sq. ft. of rentable area .015 

Cost of water per sq. ft. of rentable area .010 

Cost of taxes per sq. ft. of rentable area .273 

Cost of sundries per sq. ft. of rentable area .009 

Total cost of operation per sq. ft. of rentable area .731 

Return to ow^ner per sq. ft. of rentable area 1.089 

Appraised rent of space occupied by owner 2.2% 

Percent net return to book value 5.38% 

"Vacancies and loss of rents — 3%." In that building vacancies have 
averaged 3% for the last three years. 

"Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum — $432." The ele- 
vators are the old horizontal piston type of elevators. That is quite a rea- 
sonable cost. 

Small Modern Office Buildings. 

No local power plant, except in No. 2 there is a heating equipment. 

All electric elevator and light poM^er purchased from the street supply. 

Over twelve stories, under fifteen. 

Electric elevators. 

No. 1 has more people per unit than No. 2, consequently higher elevator 
and water costs. There is something that is going to affect our cost, the fact 

that we have an average of five men in an office in this building and four 
men in an office in the other building. It is going to affect the cost, as you 
will see later. 

Medium supply of electric light. 

No. 1 hot and cold water all the year. 

No. 2 hot water in winter only. Cold water all the year. 

Buildings kept up to good state of repair. 

Wooden floors. Fireproof construction. 

Tenants: Insurance brokers, lawyers and general business. 

No superintendent's living quarters provided. 

No. 2 gives hot water only in the winter time, when the boiler is running. 

124 



Small Modern Office Building. 
(, Insurance and General.) 

No. 1 No. 2. 

Rentable area in square feet 25,700 34,500 

Cubical contents in cubic feet 557,300 826,700 

Gross rents $47,300 $67,200 

Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents 4.2% 7.4% 

Cost of heat (repairs, supplies, etc.) 3.8% 1.7% 

Cost of elevator service (power, repairs and labor) to gross 

rents 9.1% 7.2% 

Cost of janitor's labor and supplies to gross rents 7.3% 6.4% 

Cost of electricity and supplies for light to gross rents 6.4% 6.3% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 5.3% 4.2% 

Cost of building repairs and improvements to gross rents. . . . 2.4% 4.3% 

Cost of insurance to gross rents 7% 1.6% 

Cost of water to gross rents 6% .3% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 11-8% 17.2% 

Cost of sundries to gross rents 1% .2% 

Cost of operation to gross rents 51.7% 56.8% 

Net cost of operation to gross rents (taxes and vacancies). . 35.7% 32.2% 

Average gross rent per sq. ft. rentable area .$1.84 $1.95 

Cost of heat per sq. ft. rentable area 075 .032 

Cost of elevator service per sq. ft. rentable area 168 .42 

Cost of janitor service per sq. ft. rentable area 133 .116 

Cost of light per sq. ft. rentable area. 117 .116 

Cost of supervision per sq. ft. rentable area 098 .077 

Cost of building repairs and improvements per sq. ft. rentable 

area 044 .73 

Cost of insurance per sq. ft. rentable area 012 .028 

Cost of water per sq. ft. rentable area 012 .006 

Cost of city taxes per sq. ft. rentable area 217 .31 

Cost of sundries per sq. ft. rentable area 003 .003 

Cost of vacancies per sq. ft. rentable area 042 .145 

Total cost of operation per sq. ft. rentable area $0,921 $1,045. 

Return to owner per sq. ft. rentable area 919 .905 

Per cent net return to book value of property 4.5% 4.8% 

Cost of heat per 1,000 cubic ft. per season ;...$ 3.29 $ 1.32 

Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator car per annum. . . . 61.00 157.00 

Cost of electric power per car per annum 955.00 743.00 

Electrical supplies to electric light power 5% 9.8% 

Janitor's supplies to cost of janitor's labor 6% 5.5% 

"Cost of heat — 3.8, 1.7%." Here is an interesting thing. The cost of 
heat in No. 1, which buys all its heat from the public service supply, is 3.8 
of the gross rent. In the other building it is 1.7. They therefore heat their 
building with local apparatus for 50% of the cost of public service in New 
York. We must not forget, however, that the purchased steam is a great 
convenience. It saves rentable space in the basement. It saves also very 
valuable space on the first floor. 

■'Cost of elevator service (power, repair and labor) — 9.1%, 7.2%." 
That includes everything, labor for operating the car, repairs, supplies, 
such as oil, waste, etc., and the cost of electricity to operate the elevators. 
There is the first place where the crowded condition of the building com- 
mences to show. The No. 1 building has got to make more trips per hour 
per car than in No. 2. 

"Per cent net return to book value of property — 4.5%, 4.8%." I have 
been asked, "What are you getting for your money in New York on real 
estate?" This gives you a fair idea. Of course the book value may be 
rather high, higher than the salable value of the building. 

"Cost of heat per 1,000 cu. ft. per season, $3.29, $1.32." For the local 

125 



heating plant it is $1.32 per 1,000 cu. ft. for heating season. 1 want you 
just to note that figure — $1.32. Then when 1 come lo loft buildings and 
apartment houses I want you to also remember and note how It changes. 

"Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator car per annum, $61, $157." 
There are two figures that do not correspond at ail. You ask why that is. 
The fact is that the No. 2 building, the $107 building, was unfortunate in 
those three years. All the roping of the three cars came in those three 
years. They had to be re-roped during that period. There were two arma- 
tures in the basement burned out, caused by an extra high tide coming 
over the water-proofing in the basement, so that the cost of repairs on that 
elevator is a little high compared with the repairs on No. 1. 

"Cost for electric power per car per annum, $955, $743." Nine hundred 
and fifty-five dollars at 5 cents per kilowatt for electricity. In the otiier 
case it was $743. One elevator had to take more trips tlian the other to 
handle the traffic. 

I might explain the term "gi'oss rents" as used in these tables. Gross 
rents are tire rents actually collected by us plus the value of the vacancies, 
what the building would bring in if it was full. That is what is meant by 
gross rents. 

1 might mention that in these two buildings the cost of lighting" iiie 
building was about 6V2% of the total gross rents of the building. We give 
tree lights in New York. It should not be. Tenants waste it. They abuse 
the privilege. It costs us about six to seven percent of the gross rents 
of the building to give them free light. 

In New York City the cost of taxes is about 17, 18 or 20%. Our values 
are very high, therefore the tax percentage is high. Eighteen percent of 
the gross rents of the buildings are paid out every year by the owners 
to the city for taxes. 

High Grade Semi-Fireproof Loft Building. 

Good grade of building. 

Separate freight and passenger elevator service at different entrances. 

No. 1 both elevators electric. No. 2 passenger elevators electric. Freight 
elevators, steam engine. 

Ten stories high. 

Wooden floors. Large open lofts. 

Both buildings in their proper business zone. 

No. 1 much more expensive to operate than No. 2, because cliaracter of 
tenancy needs much more attention and dtie to dissimilar size of lofts. 

No. 1 has local low pressure heating plant. 

No. 2 heated by exhaust steam from freight elevator engines and high 
pressure throttled steam. 

Tenants: Clothing manufacturers and salesrooms for general mer- 
chandise. 

High Grade Semi-Fireproof Loft Buildings — Freight and Passenger Elevators. 

No. 1 No. 2. 

Gross rentable area in square feet 40,000 140,000 

Cubical contents in cubic feet 461,760 1,822,000 

Gross rents $21,000 $58,538 

Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents 2.4% 1.7% 

Cost of engine room labor, repairs and supplies to gross 

rents 3.48% 

Cost of coal and removing ashes to gross rents 2.25% 

Cost of heat to gross rents 3.25% 

126 



No. 1 No. 2. 

Cost of elevator labor, repairs aud supplies to gross rents. 6.1% 4.3% 

Vz elevator 

Cost of elevator power to gross rents 5.2% 1.87% 

Cost of janitor's labor and supplies to gross rents 25% .24% 

Cost of lighting and supplies to gross rents < 1.4% .29% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 5.82% 2.95% 

Cost of building repairs to gross rents 3.2% 4% 

Cost of insurance to gross rents 1.55% 1.79% 

Cost of water to gross rents 94% 7.57% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 19% 15.1% 

Cost of sundries to gross rents 82% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 49.92% 28.54% 

Net cost of operation to gross rents 28.52% 11.74% 

Cost of heat per 1,000 cubic ft. of building volume $ 1.48 

Cost of repairs aud supplies per elevator per annum 160.00 $68.00 

Cost of electric power per elevator per annum 544.50 547.00 

Gross rent per sq. ft. gross rentable area 525 .418 

Cost of vacancies per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0125 .0071 

Cost of engine room light, repairs and supplies, gross 

rentable area, per sq. ft .0145 

Cost of coal and removing ashes, gross rentable area, per 

sq. ft .0093 

Cost of heat, gross rentable area, per sq. ft 017 

Cost of elevator, lights, repairs and supplies per sq. ft. gross 

rentable area 032 .0185 

Two elevators 

Cost of elevator power per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0272 .0078 

Cost of janitor's lights and supplies per sq. ft. gross rentable 

area 0013 .001 

Cost of public lighting and supplies per sq. ft. gross rent- 
able area 0073 .0012 

Cost of supervision per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0304 .0123 

Cost of building repairs per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0165 .0167 

Cost of insurance per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0081 .0075 

Cost of water per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0049 .0024 

Cost of taxes per sq. ft. gross rentable area 10 .0632 

Cost of sundries per sq. ft. gross rentable area 0043 

Gross cost of operation per sq. ft. gross rentable area 2616 .1615 

Net retm-n to owner per sq. ft. gross rentable area 2634 .2565 

Percent net return to book value of property 3.5% 5.26% 

"Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents." This is an average of 
the last three years so that they are situated nearly in their proper zone. 
"Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum, $160, $68." The 
reason that expense is higher on No. 1 is that the cars have a very hard 
service in one building. The passenger elevator runs continually from early 
morning until late at night as fast as it can go, up and down, to take care of 
the traflBc. 

"Cost of electric power per elevator per annum, $544.50, $547." The 
cost of that power averages a little over 7 cents, aroimd 7 cents per 
kilowatt hour in New York. The more we buy the cheaper we can buy it. 
In other buildings where we give free light, of course we use a large 
quantity of electricity in a year. 500,000 kilowatt hours in a year is al- 
lowed us to make a 5-cent contract. In this case it is a retail power con- 
tract, and the rate is a little over 7 cents per kilowatt hour. You can see 
from these figures that it costs $550 per year in round figures to operate 
one elevator for one year in a loft building about ten stories high. 

"Gross cost of operation per square foot, gross rentable area." These 
are interesting figures to compare, where the gross cost of operation is 26 
cents in one case and 16 cents in the other, leaving a balance to the 

127 



owner, net returns to the owner, 26 cents in one case and 25 cents in the 
other. In other words, the cost of operations follows very nearl3' the gen- 
erally accepted percentage of 50% of the gross rents. So in those loft 
buildings it costs 50% of the gross rents to operate them, and these figures 
follow the generally accepted percentage very closely. 

Medium Sized, Non-Fireproof Loft Building. 

This is the prevailing or common loft building in New York. A great 
many of them were put up in the '70s and '80s. 

Six stories high. 

Separate freight and passenger elevators at separate entrances. 

Situated on corner of street. 

No. 2 situated in better neighborhood for loft demands. 

Both sets of elevators electric. 

Buildings kept in good condition. 

Tenants: Clothing manufacturers. 

All power used by tenants purchased by themselves from the street 
service. 

Local low pressure steam heating plant in each. 

Medium Non-Fireproof Loft Building on Corner of Street. 

Both passenger and freight elevators. 
Six stories high. 

No. 1 No. 2. 

Gross rentable area 25,700 36,000 

Building contents in cubic feet 372,600 492,000 

Gross rents $15,600 $22,700 

Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents 19.25% 6.60% 

Cost of heat to gross rents 3.25% 

Cost of elevator service to gross rents. 9.35% 7.40% 

Cost of public lighting halls, etc., to gross rents 58% .21% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 1.68% 1.92% 

Cost of building repairs to gross rents 1-56% 4.13% 

Cost of all insurance to gross rents 2.89% 4.32% 

Cost of water to gross rents 78% .31% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 14.10% 20.15% 

Cost of sundries to gross rents 25% 1.10% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 55.20% 49.48% 

Net cost of operation to gross rents 21.85% 22.73% 

Cost of heat per 1,000 cubic ft. in building per season.. $ 1.99 $ 1.54 

Cost of elevator repairs per elevator per year 49.50 190.00 

Cost of power per electric elevator per year 177.00 138.80 

Cost of engine room labor, repairs and supplies to cost 

of coal 8.2% 43.4% 

New boiler. 

Gross rents per sq. ft. of gross area 608 .632 

Cost of heat per sq. ft. of gross area 0289 .21 

Cost of elevator service per sq. ft. of gross ai-ea 0568 .0468 

Cost of public lighting per sq. ft. of gross area 0035 .0013 

Cost of supervision per sq. ft. of gross area 01 .0120 

Cost of building repairs per sq. ft. of gross area 0094 .0262 

Cost of all insurance per sq. ft. of gross area 0175 .0271 

Cost of water per sq. ft. of gross area 0047 .002 

Cost of taxes per sq. ft. of gross area 0855 .1271 

Cost of sundries per sq. ft. of gross area 0016 .007 

Cost of loss of rents and vacancies per sq. ft. of gross area. .1170 .0417 

Total cost of operation per sq. ft. of rentable area 3349 .3122 

Net return to owner per sq. ft. of rentable area 2731 .3198 

Percent net return to book value of property 4.4% 3.55% 

128 



"Gross rentable area, 25,700, No. 2, 36,000." The difference between 
square feet rentable area in an office building and in a loft building Is 
this: In an office building we measure the actual square feet of floor 
space, taking out columns, windows, and everything else. It is the actual 
surface that a man can put his feet on. In a loft building the gross square 
feet of rentable area is the entire building, including elevator shafts, stair- 
ways and light courts. In the loft building proposition it is really the area 
of the lot that the building covers. Just remember that distinction in 
speaking of loft building rentable area, and office building rentable area. 

"Cost of heat per 1,000 cubic feet in building per season, etc." Why 
did that No. 1 building cost $1.99 and the other $1.54, just alike as two 
peas? I will tell you why. In one case the boiler entrance is directly 
at the foot of the elevator shaft. The man in attendance can look after 
his boiler at all times. He is not far away. He burns a small, hard coal. 
No. 1 buck and pea, which costs, in New York, for No. 1 buck, about $3.25, 
and pea, about $4 a ton. In the other case we have to burn the large size 
coal because he is so busy in attendance on the car that he can only take 
time to fire occasionally, so that he puts on a great deal more coal in one 
firing and lets it simmer, which you all know is an expensive way to fire 
any boiler. The figures show what a difference it makes in the percentage 
how a man fires his boilers, but it is excusable in this case because of the 
reasons I have just mentioned. 

"Cost of power per electric elevator per year, etc." It swings around 
$150. 

Third Class. 

Old style non-fireproof, high class apartment house. 

Height seven stories. 

Well-built brick buildings on corner of street. 

Large well-lighted rooms with high ceilings. 

Birch, cherry and mahogany wood trim. 

Best hall service. White help throughout. 

Elevators: No. 1, hydraulic; No. 2, electric (converted from steam). 

No. 1 high pressure. Steam in winter, electricity in summer. Fur- 
nishes power, heat, exhaust and high pressure steam. 

No. 2 equipped with low pressure boiler. 

Buildings are kept in highest state of repair and the service is first 
class throughout. 

Manager and help cater to tenants. Every reasonable wish is satis- 
fied. Tenants remain long time. Very reliable, substantial class. Servants' 
rooms all grouped together on top floor. 

It has been said that by far the greatest factor in the success of an 
apartment building is the management. It is. I have two excellent 
superintendents in these buildings that have been there for fifteen years. 
The tenants treat them almost as members of their own families. There 
is absolutely no discord. I have a waiting list for both buildings. The loss 
of rents in one case is absolutely nothing and in the other case it was li/^%. 
We had a man in one apartment who was in hard luck. He said he could not 
pay his rent and we released him from his lease. If he had been able to 
pay his rent we would not have had any loss. As soon as the renting 
season came around, the first of October or the first of May, I don't re- 
member which it was, we filled up that space. 

129 



Old Style Non-Fireproof High Class Apartment House. 

No. 1 No. 2. 

Number of rentable rooms (excluding baths and closets) . . 96 158 

Cubical contents in cubic feet 327,900 682,700 

Gross rents $17,670 $28,200 

Vacancies and loss of rent 1.77% 

Cost of heat and hot water 6.50% 

Cost of heat, power and mechanical repairs to gross rents. 8.02% 

Cost of fuel for heat, power and removing ashes to gross 

rents 7.10% 

Cost of elevator service to gross rents 4.80% 

Cost of elevator labor, repairs and supplies to gross rents. 5.46% 

Cost of janitor's labor and supplies to gross rents 3.78% 5.97% 

Cost of public lighting and supplies to gross rents 1-23% 1.80% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 3% 6.02% 

Cost of building repairs to gross rents 11.80% 8.05% 

Cost of insurance to gross rents 1.44% 1.59% 

Cost of water to gross rents 99% 1.24% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 9.48% 16.70% 

Cost of sundries to gross rents 2.89% 3.01% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 55.19% 57.45% 

Net cost of operation to gross rents 45.71% 38.98% 

Cost of heat and hot water per 1,000 cu. ft. per season $ 2.69 

Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum 180.00 100.00 

Cost of janitor supplies to janitor's labor 7.3% 

Cost of electric power per elevator per annum $504.00 

Cost of mechanical repairs and supplies to coal bill 38% 

Gross rent per rentable room per annum $184.00 $178.50 

Cost of heat, power, repairs and supplies per rentable room 

per annum 27.80 11.58 

Cost of elevator service (labor, repairs and supplies) 10.00 8.60 

Cost of janitor service per rentable room per annum. . . 6.95 10.70 

Cost of public lighting per rentable room per annum 2.26 3.21 

Cost of supervision per rentable room per annum 5.50 10.70 

Cost of building repairs per rentable room per annum 21.60 14.40 

Cost of Insurance per rentable room per annum 2.66 2.82 

Cost of water per rentable room per annum 1.83 2.21 

Cost of taxes per rentable room per annum 15.55 29.80 

Cost of sundries per rentable room per annum 4.96 5.38 

Cost of vacancies per rentable room per annum 3.16 



Gross cost of operation per rentable room per annum. 99.11 102.56 

Net return to owner per rentable room per annum 84.89 75.94 

Percent net return to book value of property 3.95% 5.34% 

"Building repairs to gross rents, etc." You see, that swings around 
ten percent of the gross rent. If you get $1,000 from a man for a year, 
to take care of the entire building will cost you about $100 of that $1,000 
that you receive, although you do not spend $100 in his particular apart- 
ment. That goes to take care of the whole structure as well as the paint- 
ing and papering in his particular apartment. 

Modern Semi-Fireproof, Medium Grade Apartments. 

This is the up-town speculative apartment. The West Side is filled with 
them. They are very popular with the "get-rich-quick" class of people. 
Height seven to eight stories. 
Electric elevators. 
Two baths per apartment. 
Colored hall and elevator boys, night and day service. Those boys 

130 



are paid $25 a month. They are cheap. Have to keep at them all the 
time. Supervision is very necessary. With ten boys we change a boy on an 
average of once a week. Can't seem to keep them in their place. Get a good 
man, he goes wrong. 

Building in charge of janitor living in house. 

Heated by low pressure steam., 

Marble and gilt entrance halls. 

Somewhat superficial class of property. 

In these buildings the pipes are embedded in concrete, cinders and 
concrete. Chemical action takes place, the pipes leak, have to tear things 
up to repair it, which makes the repairs very expensive. A great many 
people in New York succeed in the clothing business and make a few 
hundred thousand dollars and immediately invest it in this kind of apart- 
ment house; design it themselves, or with the aid of their wives. I want 
to call your attention to the fact that one building is situated on the cor- 
ner of the street, which makes it more advantageous to rent the first floor 
as stores and not as apartments. We can get more rent for the same 
volume. But in order to consider that building from a comparative stand- 
point, we disregard the stores and replace the stores with a similar num- 
ber of rentable rooms, which would have been there if the stores were 
not. So we still consider the building on a basis of rentable rooms. 

Modern Medium-Grade Apartments. 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Number of rentable rooms 110 248 

Cubical contents of building in cu. ft 349,920 701,000 

Gross rents $15,800.00 $35,200.00 

Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents 14.40% 

Cost of heat and hot water to gross rents 10.45% 5.02% 

Cost of elevator service to gross rents 6.88% 5.94% 

Cost of janitor service to gross rents 2.07% 2.04% 

Cost of public lighting to gross rents 2.11% 3.48% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 2.72% 2.59% 

Cost of building repairs to gross rents 10.10% 11.30% 

Cost of insurance to gross rents 1.59% .75% 

Cost of water to gross rents 2.44% 1.09% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 9.70% 13.00% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 48.06% 59.61% 

Net cost of operation (taxes) to gross rents 38.36% 32.21% 

Cost of heat and hot water per 100 cu. ft. of build- 
ing per season $4.80 $2.52 

Cost of heating, repairs and supplies to cost of coal. 37.1% 13% 

Cost of repairs and supplies per elevator per annum. $155.00 $143.50 
Cost of elevator and house pump power per elevator 

per annum 330.00 415.00 

Cost of janitor's supplies to janitor's labors 14.1% 19.7% 

Gross rent per rentable room per annum $143.50 $144.00 

Heat rent per rentable room per annum 15.05 7.12 

Elevator service per rentable room per annum 9.87 8.42 

Janitor's service per rentable room per annum. . . . 2.94 2.89 

Public lighting per rentable room per annum 3.02 4.90 

Supervision per rentable room per annum 3.90 3.68 

Cost of building repairs per rentable room per annum 14.46 14.88 

Cost of insurance per rentable room per annum. . . . 2.83 1.25 

Front 

Meter Charge 

Cost of water per rentable room per annum $ 3.49 $ 1.16 

Cost of taxes per rentable room per annum 13.86 19.60 

131 



No. 2. 

No. 1. Front 

Meter. Charge. 
Cost of loss of rent, 7 vacancies per rentable room per 

annum • $20.15 

Gross cost of operation per rentable room per annum. .$69.42 84.05 

Net return to owner per rentable room per annum 74.08 59.95 

Percent net return of book value of property 6.78% 5.95% 

When it comes to cost of heating and hot water per 1,000 cubic feet 
of building for season, you notice that you jump from $1.37 up to $2.52 and 
$4.80. The reason is that in an apartment house you have to have con- 
tinuous heat night and day. In office buildings or loft buildings, you have 
heat in the day time and it is shut off at night. To anybody that buys street 
service, let me give a little warning. Always insist that your men turn 
off the heat at night, looking out, of course, that the building does not 
cool off sufficiently to allow any pipes or plumbing to freeze. Unless you 
do that you are treating the man who supplies you steam in the flat rate 
wrong. He will catch you. It will make the general tendency of the price 
of steam higher because the companies are in the business of selling the 
steam at cost, plus a reasonable prolit. That is all you can ask him to do. 
Here we are getting a twenty-four-hour heat service, and in the building 
that I mentioned, one heated with a local plant and one by street service, 
heat was only supplied about fifteen hours a day and turned off nights and 
Sundays. So that the cost is about $1.40 as against $4.80 and $2.50. 

"Gross rents per rentable rooms per annum." $143.50 and $144, re- 
spectively. Those two buildings never heard of each other. There has been 
no comparison between the two buildings before this very minute, and 
the rents per square foot of rentable area, $143.50 and $144 show respec- 
tively that there is some system used in the renting department. 

Good Grade Non-Fireproof Fiats. 

Height, five stores. 

Construction. Good grade brick tenements, with baths and toilets. 
Cold water. 

No elevator service. 

Stores on ground floor which bring up rent average per room. 

Janitor service for halls. 

Building kept in good state of repair. Flats rent well by good class of 
mechanics and tradesmen. 

This kind of building is generally known as a tenement. It is a case 
of walk up. Five stories high. The man living on the top floor pays a 
good rent for the air and light and privilege, but he has got to walk to 
get it. The construction is a good grade of brick with bath and toilet and 
cold water. This class was originally built without bath and toilet facil- 
ities. They had what they call school sinks in the rear yard. The new 
tenement house law requires that we put toilets in the house, with run- 
ning water. We have to light tlie public halls v/ith gas. 

Good Grade Non-Fireproof Flats. 

No. ]. No. 2. 

Number of rentable rooms, equivalent 120 111 

Gross rents $7,661.00 $7,000 

Vacancies and loss of rents to gross rents 7.1% 

Cost of janitor's service to gross rents 4.7% 6.00% 

Cost of public lighting to gross rents 1.9% 1-5% 

132 



No. 1. No. 2. 

Cost of building repairs to gross rent 12.5% 14.8% 

Cost of insurance to gross rents 1.1% 1.5% 

Cost of water to gross rents 2.4% 2.1% 

Cost of taxes to gross rents 15.00% 13.5% 

Cost of sundries to gross rents .2% .41% 

Cost of supervision to gross rents 5.00% 5.00% 

Gross cost of operation to gross rents 42.8% 52.00% 

Net cost of operation to gross rents 27.8% 31.4% 

Gross rents per rentable room per annum $ 64.00 $ 63.10 

Cost of janitor service per rentable room per annum 3.00 3.78 

Cost of public lighting per rentable room per annum 1.20 1.00 

Cost of building repairs per rentable room per annum 8.05 9.38 

Cost of insurance per rentable room per annum. ... .70 .94 

Cost of water per rentable room per annum 1.56 1.32 

Cost of taxes per rentable room per annum 9.60 8.54 

Cost of sundries per rentable room per annum .12 .25 

Cost of supervision per rentable room per annum . . . 3.24 3.14 

Cost of vacancies per rentable room per annum. ... .... 4.50 

Gross cost of operation per rentable room per annum 27.47 32.85 

Net cost of operation per rentable room per annum . 36.53 30.25 

Percent net return to book value of property 4.87% 5.15% 

In these buildings they have a good grade of mechanics, as I said. 
That means a man that has got steady work, good pay. In one building 
they have had absolutely no vacancies for the last three years, and no 
loss of rents. Every man pays his rent. In the other case we had a 
vacancy which caused us to have a 7% loss of rent. 




133 



The Operating of an Office Building 

By J. E. Randell 

NEXT in importance to renting an office building is the economy of 
operation. There is every possibility in this department to misapply 
an amount equal to a fair dividend. The importance of a thor- 
oughly organized machine, therefore, cannot be over rated. 

A superintendent who has had years of experience in handling men and 
supplies is the best investment a manager can make, and such a man 
should command a good salary. The superintendent should appoint a fore- 
man for each department under him. 

Elevator starter for elevator men. 

Day foreman for day employes. 

Night foreman for night employes. 

Carpenter. 

Painter. 

Plumber. 

Watchmen, day and night. 

Stock clerk. 

No man should hire or discharge employes except the superintendent. 
Each foreman should be held responsible for the work of his subordinates. 
If he is dissatisfied with an employe's work the superintendent should be 
notified. As a result of this system the foremen will get all the work pos- 
sible from the employes under them in order to avoid censure. 

The superintendent in turn will keep the foremen active in order to 
avoid the criticism of the manager, who should inspect work as much as 
possible. Where work is not satisfactory the manager should take up 
the matter with the superintendent only and leave him to correct the 
fault. This makes the foreman feel that they must obey the wishes of 
the superintendent at all times and that he is their only master. Any 
other course would take away the superintendent's authority and demoral- 
ize the service. 

Engine Room. 

All machinery, the boilers, pumps, elevator mechanisms, steam heat- 
ing and such other things as pertain to engineering should be in charge 
of a chief engineer who is not answerable to the superintendent and who 
reports daily direct to the manager. 

In the engineer's room a cabinet should be kept containing all the 
necessary appliances for first aid to the injured ready for immediate use 
in case of an accident. 

Purchasing. 

Neither the superintendent or chief engineer should be allowed to 
purchase anything for use in the building. When supplies are needed, a 
requisition should be made to the manager on blanks for that purpose. 
Nothing can then be purchased without the knowledge of the manager, 
and he has an opportunity to inquire regarding the items. All purchas- 

134 



ing should be done by one man in the manager's office who can keep his 
price cards carefully posted and placed where they can be referred to at 
all times by any one in the office. 

Work for Tenants. 

It is sometimes necessary to change partitions and do other work 
for new tenants. The cost of all work other than the janitor service done 
in each room should be entered daily upon cards for that purpose arranged 
by room numbers in a file. This enables the manager to know at a glance 
if a tenant is asking too many favors and gives excuse for refusal to do 
more work except at the expense of the lessee. 

Record of Cleaning. 

A tabulated book should be kept on which the dates of all cleaning 
work can be entered, such as floors scrubbed, windows washed, furniture 
cleaned, vacuum system used, woodwork washed, etc. All that needs to 
be entered under each heading is the date the work was done. The re- 
port of work done should be turned in to the superintendent daily by the 
day and night foremen on forms for that purpose. 

Stock Room. 

There is no place where expenses can roll up as quickly as in the 
stock room. If a card system stock inventory is kept in the manager's 
office where' the stock clerk never sees it and no supplies are given out 
by the clerk except on an order and receipt from a foreman, and the re- 
ceipts are turned in to the superintendent every day for entry on the 
stock cards, there can be no leakage without it becoming instantly appar- 
ent. The stock cards can be taken to the stock room and the goods checked 
at any time. In this way the stock clerk cannot regulate or change the 
entries on the cards, and a shortage must show at once. The manager, 
of course, could appoint some one other than the superintendent to check 
the stock so that a collusion of any party with stock clerk would be shown 
easily. 

Quarters for Employes. 

The premises used by employes should, if possible, be in the attic, so 
that the workmen would not be objectionable to the tenants. The best pos- 
sible ventilation should be provided. Metal lockers should be used and 
tables supplied on which lunches ca,n be spread. The women's quarters 
should be separated from the men's and also equipped with lockers, table 
and benches. Separate rooms should be provided for the painter, marble 
and metal cleaners, day janitors, night janitors, calciminers, scrub women, 
electricians, plumbers and elevator men. 

If the building is a large one a carpenter shop should be installed with 
the necessary machinery to make trim for the building's use. This can 
be turned to profit by doing work for tenants at their expense. A drying 
room with steam coils is a necessary adjunct to the carpenter shop and 
an investment never to be regretted. The carpenter shop will not only 
prove a great saving in expense of manufacture and a means of giving 
prompt attention to tenants, but can be made to pay for itself in profits. 

Fuel. 

Testing coal and selecting the most efficient heat-producing grade is 
something that interests every manager, and as no two plants are exactly 
alike, it is most important to select the coal which will be economic in 
handling and will give the least possible ash for the greatest evaporative , 
strength. 

135 



Uniform Keeping of Cost of Operation 

By Charles F. McBride 

THE problem of uniform keeping of cost of operation, accessories, cost 
of supplies and advisability of making comparisons with other build- 
ings is one of the most important with which building owners and 
managers have to contend, as well as all other classes of business men. 

There is nothing more essential than accurate cost records, not merely 
to show the aggregate cost of materials purchased, cost of repairs, im- 
provements, etc., but also the proper accounts to which distribution should 
be made, in order that owner, or manager, may be able to ascertain at 
a glance any increase in operating expense, and call to account those 
responsible. 

In this connection it is my purpose to suggest the keeping of such 
records as are the most simple and thorough, and I consider a cash book, 
ledger, voucher record and auxiliary ledger sufficiently comprehensive for 
all purposes. Cash book will show receipts and disbursements; ledger, the 
accounts to which chargeable; voucher record, the pro rata amount of 
voucher to be charged to each department, and auxiliary ledger the item- 
ized description of each purchase, or expenditure. A journal may also be 
used to take care of anything other than cash, and correct errors in dis- 
tribution. 

The following accounts, sub-divided as noted, I believe, will sufl&ce for 
the ordinary building, viz.: 

Building Repairs. 
Repairs to walls and ceiling, refinishing wood work, plastering, exterior 
of building, alterations, etc. 

Electric Machinery Repairs. 
Engines, generators, switchboard and conductors, etc. 

Elevator Repairs. 
Valves and cylinders, ropes and cables, cages, hydraulic piping, etc. 

Fuel. 
Gas, coal, hauling, ashes, etc. 

Wages. 
Mechanical, janitor, elevator, watchman, painter, carpenter, etc. 

General Expense. 
Watchman and fire alarm, hauling garbage, boiler inspection, launder- 
ing, advertising, furniture and fixtures, etc. 

General Repairs. 
Steam fitting, steam heating system, boiler repairs, stoker repairs, re- 
frigerating plant, etc. 

Office Expense. 

Salaries, stationery and printing, telephone and telegraph, postage, etc. 

Plumbing Repairs. 
Wash stands, toilet rooms, etc. 

136 



Taxes. 

City, county, water, state. 

Janitor Supplies. 
Soap powder, soap, brooms, brushes, mops, dusting cloths, disinfect- 
ants, toilet paper, etc. 

Engineer's Supplies. 
Steam packing, hydraulic packing, waste, various kinds of oils, am- 
monia, calcium, boiler compound, tools, etc. 

Electric Supplies. 
Lamps, lamp shades, switches, sockets, fixtures, etc. 

Elevator Machinery, 
Sheaves and bearings, hydraulic packing, valve cups, operating cables, 
main cables, etc. 

Vacuum Plant. 
Electric motor, vacuum pump, hose, etc. 

Ventilating System. 
Electric motor, air ducts, etc. 

Revolving Doors. 
Electric motor, gears and bearings, weather strips, etc. 

Hot Water System. 

Filters, pump, heater, etc. 

Drinking Water System. 
Filters, sterilizers, cooling tanks, etc. 

Water System. 
Deep well pump, rods, piping and valves, etc. 

Legal Expense. 
Attorneys' fees, damage and settlements, etc. 

Insurance. 
Fire, boiler, elevator, plate glass, employers.' 

In order to simplify matters in the distribution of cost, a key to the 
distribution of accounts should be prepared and superintendent should note 
on invoice the account and sub-division to which supplies or repairs are 
chargeable. 

The question of preparing such a key is a simple matter, and I know 
of no better way than using letters of the alphabet to designate the ac- 
count, and numerals to signify sub-division to which chargeable; for in- 
stance, the account of wages may be given letter "A" and be sub-divided 
from number 1 to 20. A-1 would designate mechanical, A-2, janitor; A-3, 
elevator, etc. 

Letter "B" would designate engineer's supplies, and would commence 
with number 21 and close at, say, number 40. 

Letter "C" would designate janitor's supplies and start with numerals 
41 and 6nd with 70. 

Letter "D" would designate building repairs, and first number start 
with 71. 

This plan can be carried out indefinitely, and it is a simple matter 
for manager, or superintendent, to note on invoice or duplicate of order 
the letter of account and the sub-division to which chargeable; for in- 
stance, on an invoice for soap, C-30 would be noted, the letter designating 
the account to which chargeable, and the numeral the sub-division. 

137 



In addition to the foregoing cost system, a ready reference should be 
kept by manager, or purchasing agent, from which they could tell at once 
whether supplies were being used judiciously, and also if cost of any 
particular repairs were excessive, and thus institute an invebtigation to 
ascertain the cause. This may be accomplished by a system of card records, 
having a separate card for each item; for instance, in the case of oils, 
a card for each kind should be kept and entries made thereon showing 
date ordered, quantity received, from whom received and cost of same. 
Upon receipt of requisition from superintendent, all that is necessary is 
to refer to card and ascertain when last supply was purchased. Should 
record show that within a short period a supply of such oil had been fur- 
nished, the matter could be taken up at once, and an investigation insti- 
tuted to ascertain whether oil had been wasted, or was of an inferior 
quality. In either case, the investigation would result in such action as 
would prevent a reoccurrence. 

Too much importance cannot be placed on the question of keeping 
ready reference costs, as it is of the utmost importance that person in 
charge of building should be cognizant of what is going on, and have his 
records up to the minute. 

As the thousand and one things needed in a large building, or num- 
ber of buildings, as the case may be, require the strictest attention the object 
in having ready cost reference permits the owner, manager or purchasing 
agent to detect a leakage before it has assumed serious proportions. 

In view of the fact that it requires a uniform system in conjunction 
with keeping of cost records, I will explain what, to my mind, is as simple 
and accurate a system as can be devised. 

To commence with, it should be the duty of the superintendent to 
make requisition for supplies or repairs on a proper form provided for 
that purpose, which form should be in duplicate. The original to be sent 
to manager or purchasing agent, and duplicate retained for the purpose 
of checking upon receipt of supplies, or completion of repairs. 

The manager or purchasing agent in turn should issue order on source 
from whence he can secure the best price (quality always being considered). 

Order should be issued in triplicate. The original to be sent to the 
firm, or manufacturer, duplicate to superintendent and triplicate retained, 
in order to note thereon the date that bill was passed for payment, and 
the amount of same. The duplicate should be sent to superintendent im- 
mediately upon issuing order, and retained by him until receipt of goods, 
or completion of repairs, and then certified by him as to quantity and 
quality, etc. The account to which chargeable should be noted thereon 
and duplicate returned to manager in order that bill may be passed 
promptly. 

The subject of accessories is a rather difficult matter to handle, as so 
many different appliances and devices have been invented, and it would 
be exceedingly difficult to numerate them, hence, I would prefer to consider 
the matter from an efficiency and cost basis, or from the standpoint of an 
investment. 

Many manufacturers and dealers permit their wares to be given a cer- 
tain trial, say 30 days, to demonstrate their merits. If the device be a 
labor saving proposition, a strict record should be kept of the amount of 
time saved, the saving in cost of labor and the probable cost of repairs. 

ft a material saving device, a strict account of consumption of mate- 

138 



rial should be kept. Should the consumption be decreased to an extent 
to warrant the purchase of same, it would be considered a good investment. 
Here again is where the cost system is an invaluable aid. It can be re- 
ferred to and the decrease noted. 

In my experience I have found that it is good business to investigate 
all claims of manufacturers of accessories and permit demonstrations to 
be made, and I have in mind a number of exceedingly good investments 
we have made as a result of such tests, which have materially decreased our 
expenses. 

The subject of cost of supplies and advisability of making comparisons 
with other buildings I consider a very important matter, and my method of 
taking care of the cost question is by keeping record on cards, as before 
explained, and as in the case of accessories. I strongly recommend the 
trial of any article for which merit is claimed. 

In order to illustrate my point in this respect, I will cite but one in- 
stance, and as an example, we will take the supply of waste. A card is 
made out, headed "Waste" and entries are made thereon showing date 
ordered, amount received, cost of same, and from whom obtained. Pur- 
chases are made from a certain firm, and consumption is increased to such 
an extent that it is deemed advisable to make a change. Card will show 
the amount purchased and the cost of same, and when change is made, 
the name of new firm is inserted in proper column, and it does not re- 
quire long to ascertain whether change was advisable, as card will show 
at a glance whether expense for this supply has decreased or not. 

Not only are such records invaluable for such purposes, but call at- 
tention to the excessive cost of any certain supply, and investigation can 
be made and in a great many instances a substitute provided which will 
materially reduce the cost. 

Practical experience in buying and keeping cost records has taught me 
that the question of quality in at least 90 percent of cases is economy. 




139 



PART V 



Janitor Service, Etc, 



Efficiency and Cost of Janitor Service 

By Albert Kern 

THE figures which I have compiled are necessarily but estimate. 
Location, class, size and style of building, make up of janitor force, 
and the amount of work they deliver, and the quality of it, also 
organization, and methods, are what produce the results. 

The selection of help is an important factor. Weed them out; get a 
force together that will work well in harmony, treat them all fairly, but 
impartially. Hire everybody on probation. Get as many as you can with 
a smile. Select good cleaning materials. Test them, and try them out. 
It is a common failing with the average janitor force to make a scapegoat 
of the cleaning materials supplied them by the building. Many times their 
complaints are well founded, for the maximum amount of work cannot be 
secured by inferior supplies. Proper materials with a good, husky man be- 
hind them make a good dirt-fighting machine. Therefore, it behooves the 
up-to-date manager to use discretion in his purchases, and thoroughly try 
them out. For example there are many powders on the market for the 
cleaning of marble and corridor floors. They all have some good points, 
and after a careful examination will be found to have marked individual 
qualities for various kinds of work that it will take some time to find out. 
Select the one that works the best for your conditions, and school your 
janitors in the use of it. It is not sufficient to turn your material over to 
them, and work out their own salvation. Help them along by a little intelli- 
gent direction. 

In a sample test not long ago, the writer noted the results of a com- 
petition by two gangs of men on the same kind of floor surface, using two 
different compounds; while the actual cleaning results were identical, the 
men using one material beat the others out in speed on account of their 
compound working more freely, that is, there was less floor and mop re- 
sistance, which is quite a factor, as naturally the percentage of energy con- 
sumed has a bearing on the amount of labor a man can do. 

In the above instance the results of cleaning say 35,000 to 40,000 feet 
of surface per night would amount to a very perceptible saving in labor 
and material. 

By this same token the selection of mops of which there are many 
and various makes and kinds, wringers, chamois, sponges, etc., etc., requires 
much intelligent selection, and once having adopted them, school your force 
in their use, and your burden will be considerably lessened. 

Janitors vs. Janitresses in Care of Offices. 

With the view of getting some light on the subject of Janitors vs. 
Janitresses, in the care of offices, I sent a number of inquiries around the 
country, with the following results: 

Square Ft. 

Chicago (men preferred) 1,234,397 

Chicago (women preferred) 598,846 

New York (women preferred) 500,000 

143 



Square Ft. 

Cleveland (women preferred) 125,000 

St. Louis (women preferred) 122,000 

Toledo (women preferred) 200,000 

Indianapolis (women preferred) 81,000 

Milwaukee (women preferred) 80,000 

Minneapolis (women preferred) 100,000 

Terre Haute (women preferred) 31,000 

Rochester (women preferred) 35,000 

Pittsburgh (women preferred) 150,000 

Kansas City (women preferred) 100,000 

Detroit (women preferred) 800,000 

Seattle (men preferred) 71,000 

Memphis (men preferred) 52,000 

Tacoma (men preferred) 46,000 

Columbus, Ohio (men preferred) 60,000 

Rental area 4,386,243 

So, out of a total of 4,386,243 square feet of rental area, selected from 
seventeen cities, about 67 percent favored women. Outside of Chicago, 
the percentage in favor of men was about 9 percent. 

In Chicago out of twelve chief janitors interviewed, representing 
1,833,243 square feet of rentable area, six representing 1,234,397 square feet, 
or approximately 67% percent were in facor of janitors, and six, repre- 
senting 598,846 square feet, were in favor of janitresses. 

The argument in favor of janitors was that they were stronger to move 
furniture about, worked longer hours, were more amenable to discipline, 
and proved cheaper from additional quantity of work done. Women were 
used for scrubbing and polishing only. 

In favor of janitresses was that, working six or seven hours, they did 
as much work proportionately as men, were naturally neater and more 
careful, and gave cheaper and better service than men. 

It was noted that the larger buildings of, say 200,000 feet and over, 
were almost unanimously in favor of women janitors. 

Personally, I cannot speak of experience with men in the cleaning of 
offices, but have given the matter some study, and see no good reason 
for changing from women to men. Women are naturally better adapted to 
the work. Given a good forewoman and shorter hours, they can almost 
hold their own with men, and the work done at marked saving in wages. 
This, of course, refers to location where women can be reasonably hired. 
There are some sections where they cannot be secured on these condi- 
tions. True, they cannot be held to the same exacting discipline, and are 
occasionally sick and absent, but it has been demonstrated that three 
women working five hours each, can do as much work as two men working 
91^ hours each, at a saving of approximately 25 percent in wages. 

The following replies are all from Chicago: The first is a building of 
60,000 square feet. The manager says: "I do not care to have the women 
do sweeping and dusting, for three reasons: First, they cannot move 
furniture as well; second, they are more subject to sickness and absence; 
third, it is more difficult to maintain the proper discipline over women." 

The following is from the manager of a building containing 60,000 
square feet: "Women do their work better and neater. They are less de- 
structive to furniture and tools, and will do as much work per hour as 
the men. Women, by home training, are better fitted for their work, and 
if carefully selected, will give much better and cheaper service than men." 

144 



The next building contains 85,000 square feet: "On the present basis 
of wages in Chicago, do you consider it practical or desirable to employ 
women to do sweeping and dusting?" "Yes. Three women working five 
hours each (15 hours) vvill accomplish more and do their working better 
than two men working dVz hours each (19 hours), and the difference in 
the pay will show a saving of about 25 percent. It costs me 14 cents per 
square foot of rentable space for all labor, materials and supplies." 

The next building has 160,000 square feet. The manager answers the 
same question, "yes. If not overworked, they do their work with more 
care, and will give better service. In smaller buildings where high-class 
service is not required, men can cover more ground and do more odd jobs, 
therefore are more desirable; but in a building like this I can get better 
and cheaper results with women." 

The next is a building of 125,000 square feet. The manager prefers 
women for sweeping and dusting. He says: "Sweeping may be done by 
women just as well as by men, provided the hours are not too long. Women 
usually have a lot of home work, and are not, as a rule, capable of doing 
more than six hours' office work." 

The manager of a building containing 156,000 square feet has this 
to say: "Good men are scarce. Women do not need to be taught how to 
sweep and dust. They have had the necessary experience at home. The 
average man knows nothing about sweeping, dusting or scrubbing. If you 
employed a man and his wife to work for you, would you send the man 
into the house to sweep, dust and care for the baby, and the wife to dig in 
your garden, take care of your horses, etc.? You would never think of 
doing that, and you know why." 

The next building has 194,000 square feet, and the manager says: 
"Women are very undesirable for sweeping and dusting, and you cannot 
keep proper discipline over them. \Vhen I took charge of this building, 
women did all such work, but I at once changed to men, and inside of a 
week the tenants began congratulating the management on the change. 
Women are best for scrubbing, but that is all." 

The next building contains 204,000 square feet. The manager prefers 
men. He says: "On account of absence through sickness of themselves 
and family, I do not consider it practicable to use women for sweeping and 
dusting in large buildings." 

The next building has 350,000 square feet. The manager prefers 
men, and says: "We found that v/e saved $1.18 per floor per night by 
using men. This makes a saving for us of approximately $8,000 per year. 
Women cannot move desks and other heavy furniture, and lose too much 
time in trying. The men are worth more than the extra 2% cents per 
hour." 

Hours and System of Operating a Janitor Force. 

Hours, systems and methods of operating a janitor force depend wholly 
on the type and size of building, so that the only way to open a discussion 
is to outline one way for a building of about 150,000 square feet rentable 
area, and draw the fire. 

The janitors should have a room equipped with metal lockers, table 
and chairs or benches, with proper light and ventilation. This room is 
located to the best advantage in the attic. It should be kept clean and 
properly painted or calcimined and therefore wholesome. A mute re- 
minder of cleanliness and order. 

145 



The janitresses should also have a like equipment distinct from the 
janitors' room. ^ ^_^ 

The painters and carpenter should also be provided ' with "w^orking 
quarters. 

The elevator operators are best housed in the basement, with a room 
of good size equipped with table, chairs and lockers, and a sofa, to be con- 
sidered as an adjunct to a Red Cross cabinet, in which are kept all the neces- 
sary appliances for offering first aid to any one injured. A shower bath and 
toilet room are used jointly by the engineers and elevator crew. 

The chief janitor is in charge of the janitor force, and hires and dis- 
charges them. He is held responsible for this work. He is in the store 
room before the night force comes on duty ready to give out the supplies, 
keys, etc., and issue instructions or orders. 

The offices are cleaned by janitresses, who work under a forewoman as 
follows: Mornings, 5:00 to 8:30; evenings, 5:00 to 9:30, working TY2 hours. 
Scrub floors twice a week. Sweep out every night. Set waste paper baskets 
and cuspidors in corridor for cuspidor men. Mornings, dust and return bas- 
kets and cuspidors to proper places. 

Cuspidor and waste-paper men work, a. m. 5:00 to 10:00; p. m., 4:30 to 
9:00. Clean cuspidors evenings, remove waste paper mornings; clean pol- 
ished brass work, signs, fire hydrants and wash down sidewalks every morn- 
ing, also clean janitors' closets. 

Corridor men work 4:30 p. m. to 2:00 a. m. Sweep and mop corridors 
and janitors' closet floors, also main entrance lobby, and stairs and landings 
from main lobby. 

Porters, 6:30 to 5:00, one-half hour for lunch. Rub down woodwork and 
marble wainscoting. Scrub all stairs except first floor. Clean transoms 
and inside partitions. Clean down elevator shafts. Operate vacuum clean- 
ing apparatus, mornings from 6:30 to 8:00. 

Window washers work 914 hours, beginning the day, during hot weather, 
at 5:00, other times later, till 6:30, according to light and season. In bad 
weather clean transoms and glass of inner partitions. They turn in daily 
reports of all windows cleaned which are verified by the chief janitor, and 
in turn by him given to the manager, who is thus thoroughly in touch with 
the work. 

Colored porter in men's toilet works from 7:00 to 5:00. Scrubs floors, 
rubs down all woodwork and marble. No other duties outside of room. 
Keeps closets flushed. 

Colored maid for ladies' toilet, 7:00 to 4:00. Cleans and scrubs toilet 
and rest room, makes hourly visits to keep it in order. Cleans all marble 
drinking fountains. 

We furnish flltered ice water to all tenants, two fountains in each hall. 
We have a building of about 162,000 feet rentable area. 

Painters, 6:30 to 5:00. One-half hour for lunch. Varnish floors, decorate 
rooms, do all painting. Head painter acts as assistant to chief janitor. 

A janitor is detailed for Sundays as a special officer, patrols building, 
sweeps out corridor and preserves order. 

Carpenter engaged from outside at stated price per hour. 

Watchman, 5:30 p. m. to 6:30 a. m. Runs elevator at night after oper- 
ators quit at 10 p. m. Regulates lights, patrols building, preserves order. 
Keeps time of employes. 

146 



Amount of Work Required. 

In advancing any figures relating to the amount of work a janitor or 
janitress can do, only a very general line of action can be arrived at at the 
best, as each building must be analyzed and operated according to its in- 
dividual character, size, construction and class, also local labor conditions 
govern largely the amount and quality of the work. One rule cannot be too 
strongly urged, and that is systematizing the work. Much more can be ac- 
complished by laying the work out carefully, so that the help become more 
expert and can do it better and faster. 

Under average conditions, one window washer can clean approximately 
50 windows, 48x39 each sash, or 1,300 square feet per day of 9^/^ hours. 

Scrub approximately 1,300 square feet marble stair treads. 

Janitor can clean approximately 2,200 square feet transom and partition 
glass in 9% hours. 

Scrub approximately 1,300 square feet marble stair treads. 

Sweep, then mop, approximately 9,000 square feet marble corridor floor 
tile. 

Clean and polish approximately 28 assorted cuspidors per hour. 

Rub down approximately 4,800 square feet woodwork, as transoms, doors, 
rails, etc. 

Rub down approximately 5,000 square feet marble corridor wainscoting. 

A janitress can care for properly 6,000 square feet of oflice space con- 
taining 47 desks, 18 tables, 123 chairs, 25 bookcases, each office scrubbed 
twice a week, also clean 79 chandeliers and side fixtures, in 7% hours; 123 
cuspidors and 30 waste baskets cleaned and emptied by janitors. 

Cost of Janitor Service Per Square Foot. 

Windows glass cleaned at approximately .078 per square foot per annum, 
cleaning windows about once every eight days. 

Windows, transoms and door and partition glass cleaned at approxi- 
mately .063 per square foot per annum. Inside glass cleaned about twice a 
month. 

Transoms, doors and partition glass cleaned at approximately .019 per 
square foot per annum. 

Marble corridor and bank floors are cleaned at approximately .089 per 
square foot per annum. 

Marble floors, toilets and wainscoting, stairs, corridor woodwork are 
cleaned and rubbed down at approximately .075 per square foot per annum. 

Marble wainscoting is cleaned at approximately .008 per square foot 
per annum, twice a month. 

Marble stairs are scrubbed at approximately .21 cents per square foot 
per annum. 

Cuspidors and waste paper cleaned and removed at approximately .012 
per square foot of rentable area per annum. 

Corridor woodwork rubbed down twice a month at approximately .088 
per square foot per annum. 

Janitor service in offices is estimated at approximately .077 per square 
foot of rentable area per annum, exclusive of windows. Inclusive of 
windows, .09 per square foot. 

Janitor service exclusive of windows for an average office of approxi- 
mately 300 square feet is estimated at $23.00 per room per annum. 

147 



Janitor service, inclusive of windows, is estimated at approximately 
$27.00 per room per annum. 

Janitor service, including corridors, stairs, windows and entire cleaning. 
is estimated at 14c per square foot of rental area. 

Checking Supplies Used by Janitors. 

All janitors' supplies should be kept in the stock room, preferably 
located in the attic near the janitor's quarters, thus making it easy of access 
to the entire force. The chief janitor has the only key for this, and keeps 
it in order and receives and delivers all supplies. 

One system to keep a check and record of supplies is the following: 

All supplies are purchased by the manager on requisition from the chief 
of the department. Then placed in the stock room, and are issued to the 
janitors when called for, on delivering worn-out old ones. A complete in- 
ventory is taken monthly, which gives a complete check of goods purchased 
and consumed. The orders are made out in triplicate, one given to firm 
from whom supplies are purchased, the chief keeping the second, and the 
third kept on file in the office. When goods are delivered they are received, 
and O. K.'d by the chief, who then turns in his copy of order duly O. K.'d. 
Then bill is transferred to card with quantity and prices to be checked off. 
when monthly inventory is taken. 

Another way is to keep a card in the stock room, w^hereon all purchases 
are entered daily with date of receipt, and consumption, thus keeping a 
complete daily or perpetual inventory. 

Some managers operate their force by using a time clock, and designat- 
ing the janitors by numbers. When supplies are issued the articles are en- 
tered in a supply issue book against the employe receiving them, also a 
monthly stock book showing goods used and on hand. 

There is a point there regarding the use of a time clock for employes. 
Personally I have not become educated to it, and I cannot see it. I will 
have to be shown where it is going to work out much better. It gets up 
against a phase of human nature which is peculiar. Your men are made 
machines. 

Practical Rules and Regulations for Operation of Office Buildings. 

Rules and regulations for the janitor force: 

1. Do not loiter around lobby, entrance, stairways or corridors when 
off duty. 

2. Politeness and civility to tenants must always be observed. 

3. Attend strictly and quietly to your duties. Visiting around the 
premises is not permitted. 

4. The night watchman is the custodian of the building at night, report 
all trouble or irregularities to him. 

5. Intoxicating liquors must not be brought into the building. 

6. Smoking is not permitted while on duty. 

7. Report suspicious persons or strangers at night to the watchman. 

8. The removal of papers, books, or any article whatsoever is not per- 
mitted without an order from the office. 

9. Fire extinguishers are located in all fire hose closets, next to the 
south stairways, also in attic and basement. Use promptly when necessary. 

10. Awnings should be raised every night. 

11. Report leaks in water pipes, radiators, or other trouble promptly. 

148 



12. The toilet rooms of the building are for the use of the tenants only 
and must not be used by employes. 

13. Be sure that office doors are locked, lights out, and windows 
closed when through with work. 

Rules and Regulations for the Janitresses. 

1. The hours of work will be from 5:00 to 8:30 a. m.; 5:00 to 9:00 p. m. 

2. Janitresses are expected to attend to their duties themselves with- 
out outside assistance. 

3. Visitors, children and callers will not be allowed on the premises. 

4. Janitresses must stay on their own floors. There is to be no visiting 
to other floors. 

5. Attend to youv own work promptly, quietly and carefully, and mind 
your own business. 

6. Be economical with electric lights, also lock doors when through 
and see that windows are closed. 

7. Repoi't leaks or other trouble at once. 

8. Allow no one in a room unless sure they are tenants, and only 
when they have a key. 

9. Report at once all suspicious persons loitering about the building. 

Rules and Regulations for the Operation of Elevators. 

It is the earnest wish of the management to make this service of the 
best possible character, and the strict observance of these rules will 
greatly help to attain this end. 

1. Report all defects of cars and machinery to the starter at once on 
discovery of same, and note that repairs are attended to. 

2. Elevator conductors must close their doors before starting cars. 

3. Avoid overcrowding cars. Keep passengers clear from gates and 
operating lever. 

4. Uniforms are to be worn at all times when on duty. 

5. Do not loiter around lobby, entrance, or stairways, unless on duty. 

6. Personal cleanliness, neatness, courtesy, and politeness will do much 
to improve the service. 

7. Look out for the peddlers, beggars, distributers and suspicious per- 
sons, and report same to the starter. 

8. Office furniture and other heavy articles must not be taken from 
the building, except on presentation of permit secured at the office. 

9. Fire extinguishers are located in the fire hose closet next to the 
south stairway, in the starter's room and in the basement. 

10. In case of a burning awning, or other fire, report it to the first 
janitor seen, or to the starter. Act quietly and promptly. 

11. Turn out lights in starter's room when not in use. 




Janitor and Elevator Service 

By C. S. Hughes 

THE buildings of the Chamber of Commerce consist of three distinct 
units. One of them is a five-story, non-fireproof building, erected 
twenty-seven years ago, of mill construction type. The floors of the 
corridor are wood, and the wainscoting also. The second is a fireproof 
building, ten stories high, and modern in every respect. The third is of 
concrete construction, twelve stories in height, and also modern in every 
way. 

These buildings have a population of about 1,400. The tenants are 
practically engaged in one line of business, that of grain merchants along 
some of its lines. This brings about one of our problems. The samples of 
grain brought into the buildings, taken in the aggregate, make a total during 
the year of 10,000 bushels. This makes a large amount of dirt, and where 
tenants are careless in permitting accumulation of grain samples on the 
floor in corners, a breeding place for mice develops. 

In consiaering the subject of janitor service, this naturally divides itself 
under four headings: Offices, Corridors, Toilet Rooms and Windows. 

Before considering these headings, there is one point which every man- 
ager has to contend with, and that is the class of men who work as janitors. 
They are usually men past their prime, or else young men who are unable 
to do anything else. 

Our office cleaning is done by women. Each woman cleans about 7,500 
square feet. They work between five and six hours a day. This is divided 
into two shifts; one in the evening from six to nine, and one in the morning 
from five to seven and up to eight a. m. The floors are swept and waste 
baskets dumped at night, and the dusting and tidying up is done in the 
morning. We tried working straight through in the evening, laying off for 
a time to allow the dust to settle; but this was not satisfactory, as we found 
that there was another accumulation of dust in the morning. Personally, I 
believe that we would secure better satisfaction to put on a crew of men to 
do the sweeping and cleaning, and have women to scrub in the good old- 
fashioned way; the men to work throughout the night, with a lay-off at mid- 
night, and then dust. 

Each oflace is mopped at least once a week. One great trouble we have 
is in the janitors shirking the moving of the desks. A woman is unable to 
move a great many, as they are too heavy, and to save time for herself she 
is apt to fail to call on the head janitor for aid, and there is an accumulation 
of dirt under every one of the desks. That is where these new sanitary 
desks have the advantage. To help us keep track of this desk moving, we 
have a form for the janitors, to show the oflaces scrubbed and the desks 
moved. 

Vacuum cleaners do not do the business in our buildings on account of 
the grain. We have tried out the portable vacuum cleaners in offices where 
there are no grain samples, but we found them a failure, as they will not 
stand up under the usage they get, and are a source of trouble for the 

150 



electrician. A central plant in a building piped where the mechanism is 
under the control of your engineer would probably work better, but I have 
understood that these cause a great deal of trouble. 

Tenants can help a great deal in janitor service by keeping furniture 
free from papers, and not allowing piles of stationery in the corners. It is 
noticeable that where tenants are neat, that the janitor service is a great 
deal better than where they are careless and slovenly. 

Our supplies for the janitors are kept by the storekeeper. Each janitor 
is supplied with a locker, to which he or she and the head janitor only have 
access. Supplies are only issued on the return of the worn-out articles. 

Painting is a great expense of janitor service in an oflBce. The build- 
ing must be gone through at least once every three years. As a rule paint 
will stand two washings, and we can get away with it, providing the ceilings 
are all right. For a standard color, we have been using a greenish gray 
on the walls and a white ceiling. This we have found very satisfactory. 

Our cost of janitor service in the offices is 5.7 cents per square foot of 
rental space. 

Our hallways are cleaned by men exclusively and the mopping is done 
at night, except in the old building, which is mopped in the daytime. On 
the wooden floors in the old buildings we use a bleaching soap, which helps 
to keep the wooden floors lighter in color, and takes away that dark color 
which comes from a flaxseed or golddust soap. 

We have not found it economical to use a high-priced soap, as it seems 
to take about as much soap anyway. The dusting and the cleaning of the 
marble are done in the daytime. The ground floor corridor is swept during 
the day, but we aim not to have men around cleaning any more than is neces- 
sary during the day. 

Our cost of cleaning hallways is 4.9 cents per square foot of rental space. 

Our buildings are planned with a toilet room on each floor. This in- 
creases our cost of maintenance, towels, soap, etc. We also provide a rest 
room for the use of the women employed by the tenants throughout the 
building. This room is in charge of a matron, who also takes care of the 
ladies' toilets throughout the buildings. 

All the toilet rooms are also mopped at night, and one man is kept 
making trips throughout the buildings during the day cleaning everything 
as thoroughly as possible. We use roller towels. These towels are changed 
in the morning, and again after lunch. They are at all times reasonably 
presentable and fresh looking. We have tried out the paper roller towel, 
and outside of their giving each individual a fresh towel, we can see no 
advantage. As far as cost goes, there is no saving to the building over the 
roller towel. We also use a cake soap. 

The cost of toilet room service, including soap, towels, etc., is 2.1 cents 
per square foot of rentable space. 

One of the most important parts of the janitor service is the window 
washing. By this I mean both inside and outside glass. If your corridors 
are clean, and your elevator service excellent, and your general janitor 
service good, but the windows are dirty, a poor impression is created of 
your building. We keep two men employed all the time, and two others 
part of the time at this work. 

An immense amount of waste paper is taken from each office every day. 
This paper is taken care of by a helper to the head janitor at night, and is 
taken to a room where it is baled. We formerly sold the paper merely 

151 



sacked. The great trouble with this method, besides the fire risk, was 
that one never knew how much he would receive from it till the check 
came in. After we bought our baling machine we made a deal with a paper 
company to buy our paper on the basis of our weights at the building. This 
has been very satisfactory, as it has done away with all disputes as to 
weights, and enables us to keep an accurate record of this item. Paper 
at the present time in our city is bringing $7.00 per ton. 

This drinking water problem is one that is a source of trouble to nearly 
every building. The water in our city mains is taken from the river, and 
while the city authorities say it is all right, still no one cares to drink it. 
The result is that several companies are engaged in supplying spring water 
in our city. Our well water is such that it cannot be used in boilers, and if 
we had a well, it would mean a separate system for drinking water pur- 
poses, which would mean a very great expense. 

There is also a very proper agitation sv/eeping over the country against 
public drinking cups, water standing in coolers with ice in it, etc. "We had 
these tanks of ice water standing in each corridor, and besides some of the 
offices had their own individual coolers. This resulted in four different 
companies delivering spring water to the building. They came at different 
hours and bothered our elevator service, and slopped water in the corridors, 
and were otherwise a nuisance. Finally, we took the coolers out of the 
halls, and made a deal with one of the companies by which we rented them 
space in the basement of the building for a store room and an ice box. As 
these people could give the service, it resulted in their securing a monopoly 
of the water supply in the buildings. They kept a man at the buildings all 
the day. He makes a trip early In the morning, before the tenants arrive, 
cleans the coolers, replenishes the water and ice. They use the bottle 
cooler. He also empties the waste pans of the coolers. When a tenant 
desires water, if it should run out during the day, he merely telephones the 
building office and the order is turned over to the water man, and the 
tenant is taken care of at once. This has worked very satisfactorily. One 
would not know that a water business is being carried on. 

Elevator service of the most efficient type is required in modern office 
buildings. Tenants are very irritable and will stand for nothing but fast, 
prompt service. And while cars are traveling at a high speed, they must 
travel smoothly, and give no cause for anxiety on the part of the tenant. 
As in every mechanical plant, the human factor entering into the main- 
tenance and upkeep after the first installation is of the most importance. 
With the plunger or high pressure hydraulic, the responsibility rests first 
on your engineer, and with the various electric types with your electrician, 
and then with your operators. So, first have j'^our operating machinery in 
A-1 condition when the car is turned over to the operator, then you have 
the responsibility placed on the operator. Your starter must be a man of 
sufficient executive ability to keep the boys going, and not to allow any loaf- 
ing. Your actual service will not be any better than the point of efficiency 
to which you can key your starter. 

Signal devices are a great aid to service in banks of elevators. The 
operators must be compelled to operate by the signal. If the operator 
ignores the signal, and goes back and gets someone, who calls up or down 
without using the signal, you will soon commence to receive complaints 
about like this: "Operator on car No. 5 ran by men," etc. 

Keep your cars clean, both the floor and the iron work. Allow no ad- 

152 



vei'tisements in the car. Keep a set of rules, made as few and simple as 
possible, neatly framed in the car where they may be seen plainly. Our 
rules merely cover the points that no conversation with passengers on the 
part of the operator, and vice versa, is permitted ; passengers must call their 
floors; that a car will not return to a floor after passing same. 

The operators should be neatly uniformed. They must be compelled 
to keep their uniforms clean, and not allov/ed to wear them on the street. 

Passengers are careless, and a great many elevator accidents are caused 
by this; in fact, a very large percentage. The operator should see that 
passengers stand with their faces to the door, and not their backs, as they 
are liable to lose their balance and fall to the front of the car. 

Our having three distinct units in our buildings results in our having 
three sets of elevators. Each set is of a different type. As far as economy 
of operation is concerned, this is an error, but in one way it is a good 
thing. It enables us to start a man in the old building and promote him 
to the annex, and then to the main building, as vacancies occur. 

The old building has the Otis worm-gear electric system, operated at a 
speed of 250 feet per minute. The annex has the Otis 1:1 traction car, and 
the main building high pressure hydraulic system. 

In regard to the cost of service on various types of cars, as stated 
above, our buildings have each a distinct type. The figures of cost given are 
based on coal costing $4.10 per ton, and electric current at $ .0146. The 
worm-gear cars operate at a speed of 250 feet per minute; the height of the 
wall 60 feet; the mileage 22 per day; kilowatts per car mile, 3.17; cost 
per car mile, $ .046. 

Current cost per car mile $0,046 

Repairs 016 

Wages 166 

Total $0,228 

The high-pressure hydraulic cars, operated at a speed of 550 feet per 
minute, with a wall of 126 feet high, are operated by steam pumps. Car 
mileage, 135.73 per day; allowing for proportionate cost of labor in the 
boiler room, and for the cost of water. 

Power cost per car mile $0,062 

Repairs cost 025 

Wages of operators 127 

Total $0,214 

The power cost is figured with an allowance for exhaust steam used for 
heating. During the heating season, 70 percent should be deducted for ex- 
haust steam thrown into the heating system. 

The 1:1 traction cars show as follows: The height of the wall is 150 
feet and the speed is 400 feet per minute. Mileage per day 40. 

Kilowatts per car mile 6.23 

Cost of current per car mile „ $0,091 

Repairs 048 

V\^ages 130 

Total $0,269 

These cars are not designed for a building with local service. They are 

153 



a success where used for express service, but the starting load is too great 
for a local service. 

We have had a great deal of trouble with these cars, and our cost or 
operation and repairs were so great, and the cars were out of commissioti 
so much that we took the matter up with the Otis company. After looking the 
system over, they reduced the weight of the counter-weight 688 pounds, 
thereby reducing the speed about 25 percent, and also the current consump- 
tion the same amount. So far they have given no trouble. This brings the 
current consumption down to 4.7 kilowatts per car mile, or about 6% cents. 
As these cars have not been operated a sufficient length of time since, am 
not able to give repair cost per car mile. 

Through the courtesy of Mr. VonKuster, of the Security Bank Building, 
of our city, the following figures of the cost of operation of the plunger type 
are given: 

The figures are on a basis of coal costing $3.90 per ton: 

Power cost per car mile $0,075 

Repair cost , Oil 

Wages 128 

Total $0,214 

In conclusion, it may be said that if a building has the finest construc- 
tion, and the most complete equipment, it will not be a success unless It 
gives the service. Buildings are erected to pay dividends, but the service 
must not be skimped to pay the dividend. When the tenant comes in the 
morning, the elevators must be ready to give him quick service, his office 
must be in shape to use, and the less the tenant has cause to notice, except 
that everything in the way of service is there when he wants it, the better 
the service is. 

A business man spends a greater proportion of his time in the office than 
anywhere else, and he is entitled to spend that time as comfortably as pos- 
sible. Therefore keep your service up to the highest efficiency possible. 

I have in mind a building which from its location and its construction, 
both in economy of space and in its well-lighted offices, still has great dif- 
ficulty in renting space and holding tenants after securing them. Through a 
false idea of economy, the main entrance is dark and uninviting, the fioors 
and wainscoting of the corridors are dirty, the windows — best drawing card 
of the building — are not cleaned often enough, its elevator service is poor. 
The building has not been paying from an investment point of view. The 
first remedy tried by the management, in its effort to fill the building, was 
the reduction of the rental schedule. Now it is a second-class building, while 
if it had given the service, although costing a little more, it would have 
been made up in increased rates of rental. 

In contrast to this, I have in mind another building, built in out-of-date 
matter, with v/ide hallways, making a low percentage of rentable space to 
total space in the building, offices poorly lighted; yet, when one steps into 
the entrance of the building, the walls, which are painted white, look clean 
and bright, the halls throughout the building are well-lighted artificially, the 
floors and wainscoting in the hallways are kept as clean as possible, and 
every effort is made to give the tenant good service. The result is, every 
office is occupied, the tenants are satisfied, and the building developed ac- 
cording to the class of tenants. With some buildings there is more dirt 
than others. It is necessary to give more thought to the dusting because 
of the inability to get those offices clean. 

154 



Janitor Service in Western Buildings 

By E. H. Sennott 

WITHOUT attempting to introduce facts by a pictorially ■worded de- 
scription of wliat constitutes good janitor service or dwelling on 
its importance, it may lead to intelligent discussion by giving some 
unit "costs and by stating just how the work of janitoring buildings is eco- 
nomically and satisfactorily done. 

Janitor service and supplies is the largest of the various expenses in 
the operation of a building, followed by elevator service, light, heat, repairs 
and improvements, etc. 

Basing all costs on our experience in operating nearly eighteen acres 
of floor space, which includes three Class A eleven-story office buildings, 
one of which is a specialized building for physicians and dentists, one four- 
story mill type office building and eight brick store buildings, it may inter- 
est you to first know how large an operating force is necessary to care for 
the needs of twelve such buildings. The four office buildings have approxi- 
mately 9,000 gross square feet to the floor. 

This operating force, exclusive of general office help, numbers eighty-one, 
classified as follows: 

2 Building superintendents. 
20 Elevator operators and starters. 
5 Day janitors. 
2 Night foremen. 
29 Night janitors. 

2 Extra janitors. 

3 Window washers. 

2 Night watchmen. 

(Totaling 44 for janitor corps.) 

3 Carpenters. 
3 Painters. 

3 Electricians. 

2 Messengers. 
1 Laborer. 

3 Office attendants and telephone operators in Physicians' and Den- 

tists' building. 

Making a total of 81. 

We will now refer to the forty-four members of the janitor corps. This 
service is performed by men. As to the merits of employing men or women 
for janitor service, it will not be considered in this paper. There are argu- 
ments in favor of both, the strongest of which are in favor of women, if we 
are to judge by the number employed by the majority of buildings through- 
out the country. We prefer men, however, for this kind of service, although 
at present we have one janitress on our pay roll. 

The Post Intelligencer Building requires but one janitor; his services 
are required on but one of the four floors. The tenants on the other floors 
furnish their own service. 

155 



The White Building requires: 
1 Day janitor. 
1 Winaow washer. 
1 Night foreman. 
10 Night janitors. 
The Henry Building requires: 
1 Day janitor. 
1 Window washer. 
1 Night foreman. 
9 Night janitors. 

The foreman last mentioned we consider as an assistant foreman to the 
foreman in charge of the night janitors in the White Building, as we find 
it works to good advantage to perform the janitor service in these two 
buildings as a unit, in view of the fact that the corridors of these buildings 
are intercommunicating on most of the floors. 

One extra janitor works throughout both buildings whose duties will be 
described later. 

One watchman serves the two buildings. Both of these buildings are 
under one superintendent. 

The Cobb Building, a specialized physicians' and dentists' building, 
under one superintendent, requires two day janitors, one night foreman, 
ten night janitors, one extra night janitor, one watchman and one window 
cleaner. 

Summarized, the entire janitor force is: 

Post Intelligencer Building 1 

White Building 14 

Henry Building 13 

Cobb Building 16 

Total 44 

You will notice that the specialized building requires several more 
janitors than the other buildings. It is also a fact that there is less office 
floor area to the Cobb Building than in the White or Henry Buildings. 

Further reference will be made to the cost of increase of janitor service 
in this particular building. 

As the night force perform most of the work, starting at 6:00 p. m. and 
working until 3:00 a. m., one hour for lunch, eight hours constituting a work- 
ing period, we will describe how this force is handled with reference to the 
White Building: 

The ground floor and corridor, entire basement and toilets on these two 
floors are taken care of by one janitor. Service is rendered to only a few 
tenants on this floor. Floors throughout the buildings are maple, except 
corridors and toilets, which are terazza or tile. 

The offices on the second and one-half of the third floor are taken care of 
by one janitor; not including the halls; and so up through the building, one 
and one-half floors are taken care of by each janitor. This amounts to 36 
offices, and aggregates about 10,500 square feet. 

The ten halls above the ground floor and the stairs are taken care of by 
one janitor. 

The toilets on each floor throughout the building above the ground floor 
are taken care of by one janitor. This accounts for the ten janitors in the 
White Building. 

156 



The duties of the night foreman are to take care of the keys, give out 
supplies, change ribbon on clock and oversee all work done while he is on 
duty. His assistant, to whom we referred as night foreman of the Henry 
Building janitor service, runs a vacuum machine when same is in use, takes 
care of garbage, breaks in new men and helps oversee the work, etc. 

The offices throughout the White and Henry Buildings are swept and 
dusted each night, and cleaned by vacuum cleaner twice a week; they art 
also scrubbed twice a week. 

The windows throughout the buildings are cleaned on an average of once 
every two weeks. A man is able to clean about 50 of these per day; size of 
sash is about 42x38 inches. When the window washer completes cleaning 
the windows in any office he has tenant sign a slip if work is satisfactory 
and this slip is turned in to the building superintendent's office. In clean- 
ing the outside of windows, the window washer uses a life belt. We require 
him to wear rubber soled shoes to prevent marking up varnished woodwork. 
When the weather does not permit him to clean windows, his duty is to 
wash light shades and interior glass throughout the offices in the building; 
also cleaning court skylights. 

The toilet man's duty is to v/ash all fixtures in toilets, polish brass 
cuspidors in same and in the halls, numbering about 45 or 50, and to scrub 
floors. He is able to cover in one night about 1,500 square feet tile floor 
space. 

The corridor man sweeps the ten flights of stairways and the ten cor- 
ridors and scrubs one-half of the corridors in each building each night. Ho 
also washes baseboards in the corridors. The area of the ten halls is about 
12,500 square feet and are all terazza floors. 

Each janitor who covers, as previously mentioned, one and one-half 
floors, or 36 offices, also cleans and polishes the cuspidors in the rooms, 
empties waste baskets and dusts rooms, also dusting the corridors on the 
floors that he cleans. 

The extra night janitor spoken of in the first part of the paper, and 
whose work was divided among the two buildings, takes care of waxing 
the floors and assisting in moving desks and tables, scrubs floors of elevatoi 
•cars and other miscellaneous jobs, these being laid out by the night fore- 
man. 

The day janitor dusts stairs, toilets, puts paper in toilets, sweeps en- 
trance to building and corridors, washes interior glass, light shades and fix- 
tures; stairs, woodwork in the halls and toilets, wainscoting in the toilets, 
marble in the entrance and waxes floors, bales paper, polishes brass, dusts 
elevator shafts, etc. 

The floors in the White and Henry Buildings are being gradually 
changed from oiled and filler surface to a waxed surface, and are now waxed 
to the extent of about 25 percent. The Cobb Building floors are being 
changed from varnish surface to wax, and are waxed to the extent of 90 per- 
cent. We believe that this service is more economical considering the satis- 
faction it gives, and the ease with which the floors are cleaned, although the 
up-keep cost of waxing the floors is more costly than varnishing. The 
greatest advantage is that floors look better and are better preserved in 
that they are not eaten into or rotted by powders. The floors are first 
shellaced and then waxed. It is necessary to wax the different offices any- 
where from two weeks to two or three months, depending upon the wear. 

The following figures are based on rentable space: 

157 



It costs the company thirteen cents per square foot per annum for 
janitor service for the White and Henry Buildings, and sixteen cents per 
square foot per annum for specialized building, or twenty to twenty-five 
percent more. Taking as a basis 225 ofiices in each building and averaging 
H10 square feet to an oflice in the White and Henry Buildings, the cost per 
year is about $40.00. Averaging 300 square feet to each office in the Cobb 
Building, the cost for janitor service is about $48.00 per office per annum. 
These costs include vacuum cleaning, all janitor service and janitor sup- 
plies. 

The White and Henry Buildings are patrolled by one night watchman 
and the Cobb Building by one night watchman, whose duties are to see that 
all doors and windows are locked; that the lights are turned out, and each 
makes a record of all doors left open and the offices where lights remain on. 
Each watchman registers five times per hour during patrol and is required 
to cover his building or buildings according to schedule. 

In the Cobb Building the janitors follow practically the same system, 
but are unable to clean as much space as in the White or Henry Buildings, 
which is due to the fact that the service is more exacting, due to the nature 
of the tenants. Each janitor covers about 7,500 square feet of office space 
per night. The vacuum service in this building is one and a half more 
frequent than in other buildings. 

It is necessary to have an extra day janitor in this building for the 
enlarged duties. For instance, there are thirty operating rooms, tile and 
terazza floors, which require special service throughout the day. As pre- 
viously stated, janitor service is the costliest and highest individual service 
in the operation of a building and the proper supervision of same is highly 
important, inasmuch as deficiency in this service soon brings complaints 
and dissatisfaction among tenants. 

We have been particularly fortunate in the small number of complaints 
in service from the beginning in the matter of honesty among our janitors. 
It might be of interest to state that only two instances have arisen in two 
years where there has been any question as to the honesty of our men. 
One was in the case of the loss of a pair of suspenders and the second a 
feather duster. We could also recite numerous instances where valuable 
articles have been returned to our office and restored to the owners. 

All the men on our payroll are given a week's vacation each year, pro- 
vided they have been in the service of the company for one year. 

We pay our janitors $50.00 per month to start; if at the end of three 
months they are satisfactory, we increase them $5.00, and at the end of the 
year another $5.00, which is the maximum wage. Our night foreman we 
pay $80.00 per month; assistant foreman, $60. 

Wages paid for janitor service and elevator operators' service is higher 
in Seattle than in most of the Eastern cities. The same service costs from 
$25.00 to $50.00 per janitor, often v/orking longer hours for half what we 
pay in many instances. However, where women are employed, it is gen- 
erally conceded that a man is able to cover the area that a woman would 
take one and a quarter times as long to do, thus partly offsetting the cheaper 
wage paid. 




158 



The Employment Department 

By Emil G. Cheuvreux 

THE best results are only obtainable where the employes have been 
carefully selected and are properly managed. Frequently you hear a 
building owner say: "Why is it we have so much trouble in our 
building, the elevators seem to get out of order so often, the repair bills 
on machinery are excessive and every other day some of our help leaves us. 
That building on the corner, which is the same size as ours, is kept in tidy 
condition, and the manager informed me that he has had no trouble of any 
kind and that his repair bills have been almost nothing." The manager 
in that building on the corner has used care in selecting his employes — 
men that know their business. He does not pick out his help at random 
and have his machinery experimented with. 

Indirectly the help has an effect on the renting of the building, because 
if poor service is rendered a hard time will be experienced in keeping ten- 
ants. 

Where the employing of engine-room forces, etc., for several buildings 
is under the control of one head it is advisable to have some sort of a sys- 



Age 

How many in the family? Nationality 



What license now held 



How long have you had this license? 



Give nearest telephone number to your addres 



TURN CARD OVER 
Be very careful to fill out the following correctly, aa far as you know how: 



(1) State last three (3) places where you worked. 



(2) State how long you were employed in each place. 



(3) State reasons for leaving each Job. 



(4) Give NAMES and ADDRESSES of firms owning buildings. 

(5) Give names of parties in charge and to whom you refer. 



(6) State pay received at each job. 



ON THE FRONT. 

tem whereby names of good applicants for positions can be kept on file, to- 
gether with references, etc. A good scheme would be to have cards printed, 
similar to the one shown in illustration, and every good applicant given one 
of these to fill out. If this method were put in operation in a short time it 
would be found that quite a few names have been collected. 

I am about to outline a system that has been used to great advantage 
and satisfaction by an engineering concern, having under its control the 
operation of some thirty buildings in New York. 

Cards, such as the one shown m illustration, are made up in different 

159 



colors. At the top tabs are cut as shown. The following is the way these 
tabs are arranged on the different colored cards for the different trades: 

White — Engineer. All tabs are cue except the first on the left end. 

Blue — Porters. All tabs are cut except the second on the left end. 

Pink — Firemen. All tabs are cut except the third on the left end. 

Yellow — Handymen. All tabs are cut except the fourth on the left end. 

This continues until all the tabs are cut but the first from the right end. 
The colors of the cards have nothing to do with the system, but it is merely 
used to simplify matters. 

An applicant for a position is given one of these cards to fill out. After 
it is filled out properly a clerk cuts the tabs as required by the above ar- 
rangement. After this has been done it is handed to the general manager, 
who looks it over and if satisfactory, letters are sent out to the different 
parties given as reference requesting information regarding the applicant. 
The application is then placed on file, which is alphabetically arranged. 



PLACES EMPLOYED 


TIME EMPLOYED 

From To 


PAY RECEIVED 





























































































ZT-iTi—. --...;.:.;. _ on the back. 

with alphabet subdivided. Engineers' applications are kept together, be- 
hind each other; the same is true for firemen's applications, etc., and they 
can be easily referred to when necessary. 

When the letters come in regarding the character, ability, etc., of the 
different applicants, a folder is made out for each applicant's name that has 
been passed by the general manager, and these letters are put in their 
respective folders. These folders are placed behind alphabetical guides in a 
filing cabinet. 

Too much system or "red tape" is what everybody likes to avoid, but 
the arrangement stated above, I believe, contains nothing but what is neces- 
sary. 

If employes for the operation of buildings were more carefully selected, 
better efficiency would be the result. 



160 



Vacuum Cleaning 

By Joseph Baker 



VACUUM cleaning is the method of cleaning the interior of buildings 
and their furnishings by air suction, produced by a suitable machine 
and usually applied by a hand-operated nozzle implement or "reno- 
vator," as the latter is drawn over the fabric or surface to be cleaned, dis- 
lodges and carries off the dust and dirt, depositing it in a receiver forming 
part of the machine. The machine may be of either the stationary or port- 
able type, the former being installed in the basement of the building, with 
permanent piping running to intakes throughout the building to which the 
"renovators" are attached by lengths of hose, and the latter being equipped 
with a single length of hose and wheeled bodily about the building. Differ- 
ent sizes and shapes of "renovators" are furnished, adapted to the different 
cleaning operations. 

Vacuum cleaning is not new. It is settling down to a standard busi- 
ness, after passing through an experimental period. Properly conducted, 
either by the owners and the managers of buildings or by responsible com- 
panies, it is superior to the old cleaning methods that were in use before 
the vacuum system made its appearance. 

The amount of dirt and dust that finds its way into a city building 
especially, as revealed by inspection of the receiving tank of a vacuum 
cleaning machine, is beyond what would have been thought possible. The 
dirt comes in mainly through the windows, and in the lower floors of an 
office building, for example, consists of street dust, of complex composition, 
while that found in the upper floors contains a large percentage of coal dust. 
Some of this "matter in the wrong place" settles down immediately and is 
removed by ordinary methods — dust-cloth and broom; but the vacuum clean- 
ing system controls the dirt situation as a whole by taking care of the very 
fine dust which forms a good part of the incoming dirt, and that settles on 
the floor and walls and on and in the fabric of furnishings. That dust can- 
not be removed by brush or dust-cloth, but is simply stirred up into the air 
by them, where it remains in suspension for a long time before settling 
again. The presence of this fine powder in the air is unsanitary, to say the 
least; the vacuum cleaning system eliminates it. 

In the apartment house, vacuum cleaning advertises the building, earns 
money for the owner, simplifies the work of the superintendent or janitor, 
keeps the hall and stair carpets clean and lengthens their service life and 
pleases the tenants. In clubs, hotels, etc, similar reasons for its use prevail. 
In office buildings, theaters, churches and other auditoriums it simplifies the 
formerly expensive cleaning in line with labor-saving machinery that is 
employed in modern, well-kept buildings. To building managers that have 
not used it it is a necessity. 

From the viewpoint of the building manager, both the portable and the 
stationary systems of vacuum cleaning have their proper fields of useful- 
ness. By a portable is meant a well-built, efficient machine and outfit, 
arranged to be wheeled about the building and brought up to the work, on 

161 



which it operates either directly through a slot in the bottom of the ma- 
chine, or through short length of hose and nozzle. The good points of the 
portable may be described, having in mind an electric motor-driven outfit for 
attachment to the electric light wiring, and used extensively, both for in- 
stallation in buildings and in contract cleaning by the concern that makes 
the machine. One form has a revolving brush which loosens the dirt as the 
machine is drawn over the carpet, removing not only the dust but such litter 
as match-ends, paper-clips and even cigar butts, which are then drawn up 
into the receiver by the suction. A cloth strainer retains the dust, allow- 
ing the air to pass on. Another cleaner operates through a short length of 
hose. 

One advantage of the portable outfit is that each machine is a "unit" 
complete in itself. Thus, a single portable machine takes care of the twice- 
a-day cleaning of the floor coverings of a large auditorium, such as the 
Hippodrome, New York; the big machine being operated by a husky man, 
with or without a helper, after the dispersal of the audience. Whereas in a 
hotel of the same floor space to be covered, several machines are required, 
owing to the fact that, from the nature of things in the hotel business, the 
building cannot be cleaned as a whole at one time. 

The first cost for a given cleaning capacity is in favor of the portable 
sets, on account of the simplicity of the outfit itself and for the reason that 
it is self-contained and requires no piping of the building, since the machine 
can be operated at any point by attachment to the nearest electric light 
outlet. 

The portable machines can be used as a source of compressed air as 
well as of vacuum, by connecting the hose onto the pressure side of the 
pump, for blowing the dust from books, heating radiators, carved stone or 
woodwork, has relief ceilings, etc. 

Perhaps first among the advantages of the stationary outfit is the sani- 
tary feature that it permanently removes the dust-laden air from the room, 
so that there is no chance for the release into the room of the fine particles 
drawn into the renovator. The air sucked in is carried to its receiver in 
the basement, which is emptied at intervals. In one type of stationary ma- 
chines the emptying of the tank is done away with, the dust being taken up 
by a stream of water and discharged directly into the sewer. 

Stationary vacuum cleaning outfits are installed to special advantage in 
large oflBce buildings under construction, where the cost of running the 
permanent piping and the higher first cost of the machines does not weigh 
against the better organization and economy in labor given by a centralized 
plant afiTd where there is a skilled engineer on the premises. A portable out- 
fit large enough to do the same work would require special electric wiring, 
the cost of running which would probably figure out as high as that of run- 
ning the piping. The absence of noise of operation in the stationary type 
is an advantage, especially in hotels and apartment houses. 

In selecting a vacuum cleaning outfit of the stationary type, it is often 
the case that the capacity of the machine is given only nominally by the 
rated number of outlets. Thus, a thirteen-outlet set may be capable of oper- 
ating only half that number of outlets at a time with good efficiency. Prac- 
tical conditions also make the number of outlets that are actually in use 
differ from the rated capacity. Thus, under some conditions, the owner 
may find it advisable to put only a couple of men on the job, using one or 
two renovators at a time. At another time he may take advantage of a 

162 



Sunday or holiday to put a gang of men on and use a large proportion of 
the outlets. With any type of machine, the design of the pump should be 
such that the intensity of pull at the nozzle is constant, within practical 
limits, with variation in size of nozzle opening. Too powerful a pull or suc- 
tion takes the nap off, especially from a dyed carpet, the fiber of which is 
weakened or rotted by the dying process. A demonstration should be made 
on the job. 

A good "vacuum engineering" performance for a stationary outfit, oper- 
ated by a two horsepower motor, would be a ten-inch vacuum (equal to five 
pounds of pressure per square inch) through a slot 12 inches by 9/32 inch 
(3% square inches area of opening) at the end of a 100-foot length of 1-inch 
hose. 

Careful distinction should be made between mechanical or dirt remov- 
ing efficiency and genuine building management efficiency, which figures in 
the protection of valuable furnishings from mal-treatment. An unregulated 
suction on the nozzle implements is inadvisable. With too strong a suction 
the dirt is effectually removed, but the goods is drawn up into the slot as 
well, and so pinched, crushed and distorted as to shorten its life; while with 
a weak suction the dirt is not thoroughly dislodged. These failings account 
largely for the bad impression of vacuum cleaning in general that has been 
caused by some of the irresponsible "wagon companies" which have ex- 
ploited the system. The patrons of some of these concerns have found, to 
their sorrow, that a powerful suction, operating through a narrow nozzle 
opening, has pulled the very life out of embroidered upholstery, fine rugs, 
carpets, hangings, etc. 

WitK either the portable or stationary type of machine, the manager 
can put in one or more units, according to his immediate requirements and 
conditions, perhaps installing a single machine at first, and afterwards 
adding more machines, as they are needed, thereby keeping down his In- 
vestment. This feature of flexibility of the unit system applies especially 
to the practice in our large cities of enlarging existing buildings, or tearing 
them down and putting up larger ones on the same site. The replacing of a 
six-story building by a twenty-story structure does not necessitate the throw- 
ing out of the existing vacuum cleaning outfit, but only the purchase of addi- 
tional units to take care of the additional floor space. In machines employ- 
ing rotary pumps, the maintenance is low — occasional lubrication, new carbon 
brushes for the motor, and a new length of the flexible hose once in a while 
are all that are needed, with reasonably careful handling. 

The hose, which is wire-wrapped or otherwise armored to stand the 
pressure, will wear out in time — largely from dragging about over floors and 
around corners — and have to be replaced. The hose does not wear on the 
inside, although cases of cutting through of brass elbows in permanent 
piping by the abrasive action of the grit have occurred. 

In the use of stationary plants there is a tendency to clogging of the 
long horizontal runs of piping by the deposit of a portion of the dirt which 
is not carried cleanly through by the current of air. This dirt is liable to 
be greasy and woolly and must be removed by a vigorous "blowing out" at 
intervals. Sometimes a flexible steel pipe auger inserted at convenient 
elbow joints is used to loosen the dirt. 

The degree of humidity in the air has a marked effect on the operation 
of the system, the dirt being removed much more readily in dry weather, as 
might be expected. Most of the dirt collected by the machine is very fine, 

163 



and the strainers are provided to prevent clogging of the machinery by it. 
It is, however, inadvisable to have too naany strainers in series, as the suc- 
tion is thereby reduced. Bad clogging of the machine results from the use 
of too much or too heavy an oil for lubricating the moving parts. The ma- 
chine itself should be cleaned out fairly often for best results. 

The first use of vacuum cleaning is a striking demonstration of the 
amount of dirt contained in a carpet, for example, showing as a brightening 
of the color. After the cleaning, which removes the accumulation of years 
that had not been removed by ordinary methods, a cleaning with the vacuum 
once a month is often enough — or once a week under adverse conditions. 

A variety of nozzle implements are usually furnished with the outfit, 
each of which has its special use. Thus, tools with plain slots of different 
lengths are best for general work, while brush tools are effective for clean- 
ing burlap walls, carved or stamped surfaces, and some kinds of upholstery. 
In the Singer Building, New York, in which a large stationary plant is in- 
stalled and in which there are more than 550 outlets, a separate coat and 
hat cleaning service is provided in the oflaces, comprising a small renovator 
which is operated by the tenant. 

The point to consider in a vacuum cleaning outfit is a compact, well 
built machine at a moderate cost, that will give constant, positive suction; 
that may be started and stopped by simply turning on an electric switch; 
that may be located in the basement and installed in finished buildings 
without excessive labor cost, if of the stationary type, or that may be 
trundled about with minimum labor if of the portable type, and that requires 
a low minimum of attention and operating expense to keep it in working 
condition; and lastly, that not only removes the dirt, but effectually dis- 
poses of it. 




164 



Keeping a Big Factory Clean 

By E. S. Park 

ORDINARILY the care of a factory building offers little of interest 
except to those engaged in the same or a similar line of work. 
Some of the larger industrial institutions, however, with their many 
departments and their diversity of operations not only present the main- 
tenance and service problems of most small factories, but also those of the 
office building, apartment house, public building and hotel. There is prob- 
ably no better example of such an institution than the factory of The Na- 
tional Cash Register Company at Dayton, Ohio. 

While this plant is devoted exclusively to the manufacture of cash 
registers, the operations engaged in are many and varied and a wide di- 
versity of conditions is presented. The factory proper includes machine 
shops, tool making departments, wood working plants, foundries, wood and 
metal finishing departments, assembling rooms and extensive auxiliary de- 
partments, including a large printing plant, a bindery, experimental and 
testing laboratories, large stock and supply rooms and a modern power 
plant. ■ st-:Uis.i|] 

In the ten-story office building, with its 265,000 square feet of floor area, 
are the company offices, drafting rooms, invention departments, a gym- 
nasium and circulating library for employes, a post-office sub-station and 
a completely equipped photograph gallery. The top floor of the building is 
fitted up as a club, known as the Officers' Club, and here, each working day, 
300 heads of departments and their assistants take lunch and visit during 
the noon hour. On another floor a complete hotel with 48 rooms, baths, 
barber shop and writing rooms is maintained for the company's salesmen 
when visiting the factory, and for those attending the N. C. R. training 
schools of salesmanship. The first floor of this building is devoted mainly 
to the reception of the more than 50,000 people from all parts of the world 
who visit the factory each year. Here are reception rooms, rest rooms for 
women, reading and writing rooms, toilet rooms, museum showing the evolu- 
tion of the cash register business, and, what is probably the most striking 
feature of the building, a perfectly reproduced city arcade lined on both sides 
with small stores of different kinds and running the full length of the build- 
ing. Each of these shops is fully equipped with furniture and fittings par- 
ticularly adapted to the business and is stocked with merchandise. The dis- 
play windows of these stores, dressed with seasonable goods by an expert 
window decorator, are a liberal education in window advertising to the many 
merchants among the visitors. 

Adjoining this building and connected with it by a tunnel is a large 
convention hall, modern and complete in every respect. In this building 
several conventions of salesmen are held each year and twice a day a lec- 
ture on the company's history and methods, illustrated with kinemacolor 
motion pictures and stereopticon views, is given for the benefit of visitors. 
In addition to the diversity of conditions presented, the policy of the 
company in keeping its buildings as clean and sanitary as it is possible to 

165 



make offices and workrooms, is another factor in making the service depart- 
ments of this factory of unusual interest. The company was one of the 
first to realize that wholesome Vv'orking conditions and bright, cheerful 
workrooms mean more efficient workmen, and there is probably no factory 
in the world that does more to safeguard the health of its employes and 
to make their environment pleasant. The thousands of dollars spent each 
month in providing pure air, good, light and clean and sanitary workrooms 
and in maintaining well-kept, attractive grounds is not considered an ex- 
pense from which no returns are expected, but rather as an investment that 
pay dividends in greater efficiency and increased loyalty of the employes. 

The maintenance departments are necessarily large and very com- 
plete, as the company does most of its own construction work and all of its 
own repairs. These departments include an engineering department, a force 
of 90 carpenters, painters, tinners and plasterers, a plumbing department 
with 22 employes, 14 electricians, a force of 40 millwrights and helpers and 
an outside construction department of 140 employes which, in addition to 
doing excavating, concrete work, paving, sewer work, landscape gardening, 
roofing and track laying, also cares for the grounds, gardens and athletic 
fields, operates the greenhouses, cleans the streets and walks and handles 
scrap and car load freight. 

The service departments include a force of 84 janitors, a laundry with 
18 employes and an output of 333,000 pieces a month; 14 employes in the 
Officers' Club, 11 watchmen, two men who regulate the heating and ventilat- 
ing throughout the factory, 20 elevator operators of which 13 are in the 
factory buildings and 7 on the six passenger elevators in the office building, 
a v/ater distilling plant with a capacity of 1,200 gallons per day, a refriger- 
ating plant, a garage with 22 employes and an equipment of ten motor 
trucks and six passenger cars, and a stable force of 18 men. In addition, 
there are telephone and telegraph operators, an emergency hospital with a 
physician and trained nurses in attendance, a force of guides to show 
visitors through the factory, and a staff of messengers delivering factory 
mail throughout the plant every forty-five minutes. 

The factory is located in a residence section of the city away from the 
dirt and smoke of the downtown district and the manufacturing section. 
Surrounding the buildings are extensive well-kept lawns, trees, flowers and 
masses of shrubbery, all with a cared-for look that is not only an indication 
of the conditions indoors, but a powerful influence in encouraging clean- 
liness and orderliness among the work people. A large part of the 5,900 
employes live in the vicinity of the factory. 

There are ten main factory buildings connected by tunnels and bridges. 
These buildings are very similar in construction and arrangement so that a 
description of one will give a good idea of all. The typical factory building 
is 540 feet long, 60 feet wide and five stories high with a well-lighted base- 
ment, half above grade. There are three combination passenger and freight 
elevators with stairways adjoining them in the rear, one in the middle of 
the building and one about 100 feet from each end. On the side of the 
building next to the elevators and stairways and just in the rear of them, 
are three wings in which the wash rooms, lavatories and bath rooms are 
located. This gives three wash rooms and lavatories on each fioor and 
makes possible a compact and economical plumbing arrangement. The 
interior of all the factory buildings, together with all work benches, tables, 
stock bins and machinery, is painted a soft light green. All buildings are 

166 f 



constructed with the largest possible window openings, four-fifths of all wall 
space being glass. The basement floors are concrete and all upper floors 
are maple. 

In addition to the ten main factory buildings there are warehouses, a 
large pov/er house, a building in which lumber is dried and seasoned, an oil 
house, a manufacturing laboratory, a garage and stables, a club house for 
boys and employes' educational classes, and a building in which employes 
keep bicycles during the day, besides the office building and convention hall 
already mentioned, making, in all, a total floor area of over 37 acres. 

In order to form an idea of the conditions under which the janitor woi'k 
is done, several unusual conditions must be understood. Practically all 
janitor work is done during the day, it being the policy of the company, in 
all departments, to accomplish as much as possible during regular working 
hours and to rest or play just as strenuously after quitting time and on Sun- 
days. Another unusual practice is that employes with good records in the 
janitor service are rewarded after a few months or a year by being trans- 
ferred to better positions elsewhere in the factory. The personnel of the 
janitor service is affected by another peculiar condition. Most of the janitor 
force wait on the tables in the Officers' Club during the noon hour. It has 
been found that young, active men make the best waiters and they are there- 
fore given the preference in filling vacancies. As a result, the force includes 
few of the older professional type of janitors. 

The janitor force, or, as it is known, the General Service Department, is 
made up of the following, all men: 
1 foreman. 

8 assistant foremen. 
1 clerk. 

1 barber. 

1 stockkeeper. 

1 man distributing towels and linen. 

9 window cleaners. 
8 cuspidor cleaners. 
G lavatory men. 

48 general duty janitors. 

The regular working schedule of the General Service Department is 
from 6:30 a. m. to 5:15 p. m., with one hour off at noon, making a 9%-hour 
day. The 50 members of the force who wait on the tables in the Oflicers' 
Club work during the noon hour and are also given their lunch. The offices 
and factory close at noon on Saturdays, but the General Service Department 
works until 4:30 p. m., making a 57%-hour week. 

The company furnishes working clothes to all employes in this depart- 
ment — white duck suits clean daily to those working in the office building, 
and khaki suits clean twice a week to those in the factory buildings. In 
addition, all employes of the department are shaved by the department 
barber, some daily and some every other day, and are given a hair-cut when 
needed. The 50 employes of the department who act as waiters in the 
Officers' Club are required to bathe daily just before noon and are furnished 
a complete outfit of clean white clothes. This necessitates their leaving 
their janitor work at 11:00 a. m., and, as they do not get away from the club 
until 2 p. m., they put in only about eight hours a day on janitor work proper 
instead of 9% hours. The other employes of the department are permitted 
to take a bath once a week on the company's time — in fact, that is a 

167 



privilege extended to all employes of the company, bath towels and soap 
being furnished without charge. 

The rooms of the General Service Department on the fourth floor of the 
office building include locker rooms, dressing rooms, "barber shop, linen 
room, stock room, wash rooms, and bath rooms with 24 shower baths and 
dressing rooms. The department also has work rooms in the basements of 
the other buildings and lockers for tools and supplies are provided in dif- 
ferent parts of the factory. 

The work of the General Service Department is directed by the fore- 
man and his eight assistants. One assistant foreman has charge of the 
window cleaning and another the cuspidors. The office building is in 
charge of an assistant foreman with 12 men under him, while the other 
buildings are looked after by the other five assistant foremen, each having 
from 7 to 10 men. 

While the factory departments begin work at 6:30 a. m., the employes 
in the office building do not arrive until 8 o'clock. This gives an hour and 
a half in the morning in which to clean the building or rather six floors of 
the building, as the occupancy of the other four floors permits their being 
cleaned during the day. In order to get this work done in the short time 
available the regular force in this building is increased by bringing in the 
window cleaning gang and three assistant foremen and their men from the 
factory buildings. Between 6:30 and 8:00 a. m. these forty men sweep the 
six floors, including the corridors, dust the furniture, empty the waste paper 
baskets and put everything in order. After eight o'clock the regular force 
fn the building cleans the other four floors, scrubs the marble stairs and the 
main entrance steps, cleans the twenty-six wash rooms and lavatories, dis- 
tributes towels, fills the drinking water stands with ice and distilled water, 
distributes paper drinking cups and empties the receptacles holding used 
cups, mops the elevators and does any special cleaning that may be neces- 
sary. The first floor, which is covered with linoleum, is mopped twice each 
day, once during the day and again in the evening after quitting time. This 
building is equipped with vacuum cleaning machines installed in the base- 
ment with service outlets on each floor. They are not used in the early 
morning cleaning, but on Saturday afternoons two floors are thoroughly 
swept and cleaned by vacuum, and during the week it is used for special 
work. 

In one of the factory buildings — the women's building — work does not 
start until 7:15 a. m., and this building is also cleaned before the employes 
arrive. The four men regularly on duty in this building are helped in this 
work by two assistant foremen and their men from other factory buildings, 
making a force of 28 men who sweep three floors of this building by 7:15. 
The other two floors are swept during the day. 

In the other factory buildings the janitor work starts as soon as the 
work in the office building and the women's building is finished. Each build- 
ing is in charge of one of the five assistant foremen, some of whom look 
after three buildings. In most cases a janitor is assigned to each floor, 
although in several instances where the work is light one man looks after 
two floors. These floor men sweep their floors three times a week and in 
some of the departments daily, including the floors of adjoining bridges and 
the stairways. They also clean the wash rooms on their floors, wash wood- 
work, keep the drinking fountains clean, distribute towels and empty the 
rag and trash cans. There are 274 shower baths in the factory, some on 

168 



every floor, and each floor man cleans those on his floor and keeps them 
ready for use. 

Throughout the factory buildings galvanized iron cans are provided, 
some for trash and some for oily rags and waste. Late every afternoon 
each floor man empties the trash cans on his floor into large boxes on hand 
trucks. These boxes are hauled to a centrally located platform and then on 
motor trucks to the company's dump about half a mile from the plant where 
their contents are burned by the man in charge of the dump. The contents 
of the oil cans are taken to a basement room and submerged in tanks of 
water until the next morning, when the rags are taken to the laundry and 
washed. After all factory work stops in the evening, flve of the General 
Service men make a trip through the factory buildings and examine all rag 
cans to make sure that no oily rags are left in the building over night. 

Each assistant foreman in charge of factory building has one lavatory 
man under him who cleans and disinfects the lavatories and distributes 
toilet paper. These men do not help with the early morning cleaning in the 
office building and women's building, but begin their regular duties at 6:30 
a. m., and between them they clean all of the 120 lavatories three times a 
week and disinfect them twice a day. 

The window cleaning force of nine men with an assistant foreman in 
charge, helps with the early morning work in the office building and works 
on windows the rest of the day. Two window cleaners work in the office 
building continuously and clean the windows and the glass partitions on 
eighth floors of this building every four weeks. The windows and partitions 
on the other two floors are cleaned every week on Saturday afternoons, all 
nine of the force helping with this work. The seven men working in the 
factory buildings clean the windows and glass partitions in these buildings 
every five weeks. All of the window men are provided with safety belts 
that snap into eye-bolts anchored on each side of the window frames. 

The eight cuspidor men clean and disinfect all of the 3,800 cuspidors in 
the factory building three times a week and the 400 cuspidors in the office 
building daily. All cuspidors are cleaned in a centrally located room 
specially equipped for the work. Four men pulling hand trucks go through 
the building, taking up dirty cuspidors and putting clean ones in their 
places. The other four men clean the cuspidors as they are brought to the 
work room. 

The kitchen of the Officers' Club is scrubbed daily with an electric 
scrubbing machine. This machine is also used on other floors that are free 
from obstructions, but most of the floor washing is done by mopping. The 
flrst floor of the office building is mopped twice a day and other floors are 
mopped after quitting time in the evening, the men in this building working 
two to three hours overtime once a week on this work. The floors in the 
factory buildings are mopped on Saturday afternoons and on Wednesday 
nights. Fifty-four men, in three gangs, each in charge of an assistant fore- 
man, mop three floors every Saturday afternoon and three other floors every 
Wednesday night, working overtime three to four hours. 

The General Service Department prepares its own soap for all kinds of 
cleaning. Pure soap chips and a small amount of soda ash are dissolved 
in water in 300 gallon tanks and the mixture cooked by forcing steam into 
the tanks. This makes a thick soap jelly that dissolves perfectly in water 
and does not leave a coating of soap on washed surfaces. 

The sweeping compound used in all sweeping is also made by the de- 

169 



partment. With the exception of the vacuum sweeping done in the office 
building on Saturday afternoons, all sweeping is done with hair floor brooms, 
18-inch brooms being used except on a few floors that are fairly free from 
obstructions where 24-inch brooms are used. Each floor man haa a large 
trash box on a hand truck with him when he sv/eeps, and as fast as the 
dirt is swept into piles, it is shoveled into the trash box, which is later 
hauled to the central platform and then by motor trucks to the dump. 

Every year, usually during the first part of August, the factory is 
closed down for two weeks and the employes given a vacation. During 
these two weeks the General Service force is doubled and the entire plant 
is given a good "house-cleaning." Ceilings, walls, partitions and floors are 
scrubbed; wash rooms, lavatories and bath rooms are given a thorough 
cleaning; lockers throughout the factory are fumigated and a large part of 
the interior of the building is painted. 

The factory departments engaged in operations producing dust and dirt, 
such as the woodworking departments and the metal polishing rooms, are 
equipped with dust collecting systems. All machines in such rooms are pro- 
vided with dust hoods connected by pipes with pov/erful exhaust fans which 
suck the dust and particles of metal away from the machines and carry 
them to the roof, where "cyclone" separators collect the dust and drop it 
through pipes to bins on the first floor. The dust collecting systems are a 
great help in keeping these departments clean, as well as a protection to 
the workmen. 

This policy of protecting the workmen and safeguarding their health is 
shown in many ways. The factory buildings are all equipped with sanitary 
(bubbling) drinking fountains, while distilled water for drinking purposes 
and paper drinking cups are furnished in all parts of the office building. 
There are no roller towels in the wash rooms, small individual hand towels 
being used instead. Hair brushes and combs, which the company furnishes 
in wash rooms, are all collected daily, and thoroughly washed and sterilized. 
The coat rooms in different parts of the plant and the rooms of the General 
Service Department are fumigated regularly. 

The General Service Department has many other duties that have not 
been mentioned. It exists to serve those who make and market cash reg- 
isters, to give them clean workrooms and wholesome surroundings, and such 
service, well performed, includes a multitude of minor duties, as every 
janitor knows. 



170 



PART VI 



Repairs 



Economy of a Local Repair Department 

By John A. Fedeler 

REPAIR work is, to my mind, the most important item in the maintain- 
ing of property, and we ought to learn all we can about it. Many build- 
ing managers are doing their own repair work now, but they have 
never taken the trouble to find out how large their saving is. Others have 
inherited a system of management which makes the extra duties of a local 
repair department impossible. Again, there are superintendents who do not 
care to assume extra duties because the contractors engaged in doing their 
repair work have a way of remembering their customers which is too profit- 
able to lose. It is my opinion that a local repair department is inefficient 
if the men employed in such department cannot be kept busy seventy-five 
percent of their working time, and a building manager must know whether 
he can lay the work out for as many men as required. 

The larger and the older a building is, the more the saving of a local 
repair force and by a fair comparison I have estimated that the duties of a 
superintendent running his own repair department are at least 50 percent 
as many as one who entrusts all his repairs to a contractor. 

A large building is like a human being, the first years of its existence 
it is broken in to perform its function at a great expense. Then comes a 
period of efficiency and usefulness, and finally its period of decline. Only 
thirty years ago steel construction, elevators, gas and electric lighting were 
still in the experimental stage as applied to large office buildings. We have 
therefore a very few large buildings which can claim the honors of old age 
and which contain all the modern conveniences. There is no set of standard 
rules that can be applied for every kind of trouble which may develop in 
a building. Every manager and superintendent has to apply his own 
remedy. 

If your property has no leaky water, gas or sewer pipes you may re- 
joice, but remember, nothing is everlasting, and it is only a question which 
one will last the longest, you or the building; meanwhile, watch your 
plumber and steamfitter, so that they do all their work properly, and allow 
you to inspect all their work under floors or inside of partitions before the 
work is covered up. The best of mechanics will become careless if they 
find that their boss does not take sufficient interest .in their work. I have 
seen as many as twenty plumbers and pipe fitters repair jobs, which have 
cost the building from $25 up for each case on account of criminal careless- 
ness in repairs. You send a plumber, for instance, to clean a pipe which is 
stopped up. He first tries to blow the obstruction out with his pump. Then 
he may try some lye or acid. He may also try a vise snake, and if not suc- 
cessful he will come to you for permission to open up the floor or wall; if 
he now is certain that you are not likely to inspect his work he will cut a 
slit in your lead sewer pipe or drill a hole in the iron pipe, then use his 
snakes until the pipe is clear. By this time it may be late in the afternoon, 
and instead of soldering upon your lead pipe or putting a plug In your iron 
pipe, he will use ordinary elect tape, tape the pipes up, cover up the floor 

173 



and that may be the last you hear of it for years, then the tape gets bad 
and another obstruction in the pipe below the c\x\ allows the water and 
sewerage to flow out between the floors or inside of partition, which in time 
may ruin the ceiling for several floors below, particularly if the leak is near 
a column. 

This is a sample of your local repair department, if you trust your 
own plumber too much. Now, let me counteract this with an experience as 
an employe of a contractor. This happened in 1892; users of electric 
motors did not know as much about their machines as they do now, never- 
theless I know similar practices are still in vogue. 

I had just been employed as an electrical expert by a repair company. 
The boss came up into the shop, an armature winding room, and instructed 
me to go to a certain printing company, disconnect a large motor and get 
it ready to load up on a wagon, other help would follow. When I reached 
the printing office I found a very excited manager. It seemed to him a very 
great calamity to be unable to get power, all hands idle and so much work 
for the presses. I asked him how the motor stopped, and he said it just 
slowed down to nothing, which is unusual, when a machine Is damaged 
very bad. He could not understand it, and as no one had given the motor 
an inspection, so as to determine what was wrong, I tested the machine out 
myself and found, to my great surprise, nothing wrong, but a loose connec- 
tion at the rheostat. I soldered this, started the motor up, and told the 
manager everything was O. K. He certainly was grateful; he gave me $5 
as a tip and I went on my way back rejoicing to break the good news to my 
own boss. As I entered our office he said, "Hello, why didn't you stay to 
see that the motor was loaded properly on the wagon?" I told him the 
motor was O. K., and that I fixed a loose connection on the rheostat. 

He actually scared me, for I thought he had gone crazy, and I can only 
repeat the following distinctly: 

"So, you call yourself an expert? "Well, if that is the kind of work you 
do, I don't want you. How do you suppose I am going to pay my shop ex- 
penses? Why, I have a ten-year-old boy that can do better than that; 
go and get your money." The question therefore is, are you paying for 
the work of the repairs or are you paying some one's shop expenses? 

When your building is getting old, and your repair expenses are In- 
creasing, you will hear from the owners or stockholders. Many, I know, 
will express themselves like this: 

"My dear man, this building has run for ten years, and we never had 
to pay so much for repairs," or, "If that machine or boiler is worn out, 
it was never taken care of properly; it ought to have lasted longer. You 
will then, as we now term it, be up against it good and hard. You will 
there earn your bread with the sweat of your brow. You must see that the 
dividend is not diminished, and that is the time when all kinds of economy 
in repair work will interest you most. 

Many a good man has found himself in such a position, but encum- 
bered by a wasteful system of management, he has had to make place for 
someone else, more experienced to handle just such a situation. 

The above came to pass at the New York Produce Exchange Building. 
The old management was replaced by a new one, and the property placed 
in the hands of the present agents, Douglas Robinson, Charles S. Brown 
Company. First, the rents were readjusted, and incompetent employes 
discharged and replaced; then a local repair department was added. Men 

174 



who were overpaid had their salaries reduced; the majority, hov.^ever, had 
it raised to conform with the wages in other buildings. 

The most important matter, to my mind, which will reduce the cost of 
repair and operation in a large building is the system under which it is 
managed. I want to propose to yovi a system I operated with, how you 
may do your own repairs, and still have time to spare. 

There should be two separate offices in a large building, the renting 
of offices, the making of leases, investigation of new tenants; collecting 
of rents and paying of bills should be attended to in one office, for which 
only the agent, owner or ma,nager is responsible. 

The superintendent should have a separate office, and be held re- 
sponsible for the janitor's department and the maintenance and repairs of 
the building. The superintendent is the man v/ho is best able to judge of 
the requirements of his tenants; he is closest to them, in the best rented 
building the manager or superintendent generally made it so. 

The idea of separate departments is also economy. If you have a 
number of small tenants, there is always a large number who do not like 
to part with their rent. It seems to hurt them to pay up, and when they 
do so, they invariably have a complaint to make of some sort. If they are 
then referred to some other office to lodge their complaint, they will forget 
it unless such complaint is justified. 

The superintendent should select his assistants. Every man or Woman 
under him has his or her duties to perform. Complaints with reference 
to the cleaning of offices are sent to the superintendent, who investigates 
and lays the blame where it belongs. The superintendent orders his mate- 
rial through the building manager. 

Here again our method of accounting is very simple. An order is 
made out on the agent or dealer. A copy of this order remains in the 
order book. After the goods have been received and the bill presented, 
the amount and cost of the material is written on the original copy, and 
the date the bill has been approved for payment. This copy is then torn 
out of the copy book and filed, so that each of the various items or mate- 
rial are kept together, and an easy access can be had to any previous 
order. This is very handy when you wish to find out how much you paid 
for, where you got it before, and how much is used for any given period 
of any material. 

Once every year I make an inventory. (See Exhibit "A".) Each line 
contains the name of a material we carry in stock, and by purchasing a 
monthly supply, I am able to check up with the previous year whether 
there has been any waste. This list does not include any material used 
for repairs. 

The engine room is in charge of a chief engineer; as the changes in 
this department are not frequent, I generally investigate a prospective 
employe and then send him to the chief for approval or rejection. My 
relation to the engineer force is that of a consulting engineer. All repairs 
and purchases are ordered through my office. A superintendent can best 
serve his object if he carries an engineer's license; it is, however, not 
essential. The consumption of coal and oil per day and month is kept on 
file the same as before mentioned. 

Every hour the steam pressure, the load in amperes, and the number 
of the engines running is marked down. If you want to adopt a log which 
will tell you at a glance the condition of your engine room, the following 

175 



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INVENTORY, APRIL 30. 1909. 

800 lbs. soap powder @ .02% 118.00 100 lbs. waste @ .08 Vz $ 8.50 

30 cakes sapoUo @ .04^ 1.20 % box toilet paper @ $8.50...' 4.25 

72 cakes of soap @ .04 1-6 3.00 4 lbs. sponges @ $2.25 9.00 

3 doz. cans lye @ $4.80 3.60 Vz doz. squeezers @ $13.50 6.75 

100 lbs. oxalic acid @ .07% 7.50 2 doz. palls @ $8.00 16.00 

16 lbs. marble polish @ .02% 40 6 dust pans @ $3.50 1.75 

200 lbs. klensall @ .04 8.00 V4 doz. wringers @ $8.00 4.00 

7 gals, polish @ .60 4.90 2 cans pipe klenzo @ .45 90 

IVz doz. com. brooms @ $2.50 5.25 16 bags sawdust @ .15 2.25 

65 scrub brushes @ $3.50 6.60 10 paper bags @ .25 2.50 

6 radiator brushes @ .50 3.00 4 gals, hypozone @ $1.00 4.00 

6 hand brushes @ .50 3.00 20 gals engine oil @ .20 4.00 

6 dusters @ $11.50 5.25 20 gals cylinder oil @ .40 8.00 

30 lbs. scrub cloth @ .16 4.80 1 gal. crude oil @ .30 30 

40 lbs. cheese cloth @ .30 12.00 2 gals, alcohol @ .60 1.20 

6 mops © $4.00 2.00 

1 doz. mop handles @ $2.00 2.00 $164.80 

RECAPITULATION. 

Janitors' supplies $152.80 

Engineers' supplies 12.00 

Painters' supplies 



Total $164.80 

40 W. 100 Tantalum lamps $ 35.00 

25 W. 100 Tantalum lamps 35.00 

Total $ 70.00 

Coal, 50 tons $157.50 

EXHIBIT "A." 

description will serve you. If you want to have a simple log, here is some- 
thing that I have examined and found very efficient. For instance, I have 
a big booli. I have a piece of canvas on that so that when the engineer 
puts his hands upon it he won't soil it. One page is used for the day run, 
and the other page for the night run. The pages are arranged as shown 
by Exhibit "B." 

This form represents the day run. The two pages facing each other 
will do for one month. You see under every hour I have got three small 
separate columns, which gives me the amperes, number of engines running, 
and the pressure of steam. This table will show you at once when your coal 
bills are getting larger. 

It is easy to note how you may compare one day with the other, and 
in practice you can see by the variation in the electric load how the days 
are gradually getting shorter or how a larger consumption of coal during 
any period is accounted for by dark weather, etc. 

The repair department is under my personal direction. Where in a 
small building one man can attend to many different classes of repairs, 
in our building we have a first-class carpenter and cabinet maker, who 
can also make keys and repair door checks. An electrician to attend to 
electrician's repairs and constructions. 

A plumber who also does all kinds of pipe fitting. 

A plasterer who can lay tile and brick and build plaster block par- 
tition. 

An elevator machinist to do all elevator work. 

A helper who can mix mortar, trim an arc lamp or paint, and from 
four to ten painters, as may be required at the time. 

All these may be used in an emergency for roping an elevator or in 
case of fires, etc. 

All complaints are sent to the superintendent's office where an order 
for the work is made out and the duplicate filed. 

These slips are a great help to a superintendent in laying out the 
work for his men. 

177 



The copies are classified and counted so one is able to judge whether 
the work is increasing or diminishing, whether one gets enough work for 
the salary expended, etc. 

If I have a good man I always make it my business to do the best I 
can for him, and when he has reached the limit of pay I feel I can afford 
for this position, I frankly tell him that I will help him into a better job, 
when an opportunity presents itself. Having done this a number of times 
successfully, the rest feel their turn will come to get a better position, 
and they all try hard to please. I think superintendents ought to take 
more interest in deserving young fellows who want to become engineers 



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EXHIBIT "B" 
and superintendents; I make it a practice to always have one such in 
training and breaking him in. It is very gratifying to see some of these 
men get along after they leave you. The best advice to give to a man who 
wants to superintend his own repairs is, spend some of your idle time 
in making imaginary emergency repairs. Train yourself to be ready for 
anything which can possibly happen to the property in your charge. 

Psychology teaches us that it takes time to plan and as there is not 
always time to pFari when human life is at stake, be ready to give the 
right orders while others suggest and have the hysterics. The practice to 

178 



plan emergency repairs helps you to prevent accidents, because you are 
always looking for the weak spots, which are immediately repaired when 
found. It has helped me so often that I must relate to you an experience. 

The elevator system of the New York Produce Exchange includes four 
pressure tanks and fourteen elevators in three separate buildings; two of 
these tanks are located on the roof of the Exchange Building; from these 
tanks radiates one pipe to each elevator. These pipes are fastened to 
the tanks by means of a flange union. On my inspection trips I would 
say, "These pipes should have their valves closer to the tanks. If one of 
the pipes should break between the tank and the valve, which is six 
floors below, all the water in the tank will pour down the elevator shaft. 
The only thing to do then would be to shut the water off on the feed line 
from the pump, wait until the tank is empty and make a temporary repair 
by putting a blank flange on the tank in place of the pipe broken." 

Many of you would, no doubt, have considered such thought unneces- 
sary. Had not these pipes been in service 25 years and was not there the 
safety valve to prevent an excessive pressure? 

This is all very well, but when the equipment in a building is getting 
old, the unexpected generally happens. One day one of our elevators was 
reversed too suddenly and the strain broke one of the aforesaid pipes 
above the valve and we certainly had a miniature Niagara in our elevator 
shaft. In three minutes I had the supply shut off in the engine room, 
and in ten minutes the ten elevators connected to the other tanks 
were in operation again. In an hour after the accident all repairs had 
been made, so that only the elevator affected was out of commission for 
a day. If a dynamite bomb had exploded the excitement could not have 
been worse for a time. Orders for the police department, ambulance, 
boats, etc., were given promiscuously by everyone. People went into hys- 
terics, and I am certain had I not been prepared, I would have made a poor 
showing and instead of congratulations, I might have been looking for 
another position. 

The efficiency and economy of a repair department depends to a great 
extent upon local labor conditions. If a contractor can hire labor as cheap 
as you, you will hardly be able to compete with him on contract work. 
The cost does, however, not always play the most important role for the 
convenience is so great in a well organized local repair department that 
other matters are not considered. They can be called upon in case of fire 
and flood or other emergencies. 

In my case the matter of cost was of greatest importance, and when- 
ever the labor conditions are similar to those in New York, I believe the 
work of carpentry, plaster block partition building, painting, tile repair- 
ing, plumbing, etc., can all be done cheaper and better by a local repair 
force. 

In New York there are always men with families, who prefer a good, 
steady position, with less pay, than a job now and then, with union wages. 
Sometimes, of course, there are changes in a local repair department 
v/hich will strain the patience of a manager. 

The new man is found incompetent, dishonest or a drunkard, but you 
may have similar experience with the help of contractors. 

New York is a very strong union town; contractors in estimating on 
work must estimate on paying union wages. Some of the unions close 

179 



their books as soon as a few of their own members are out of work, and 
the consequence is that many a man who would be a union man became 
disgusted by such an injustice, and there is, therefore, no lack of skilled 
labor at lower wages. 

The average saving on the carpenters, stone masons and plasterers' 
work over that of contractors, is 25 percent. 

On painter's work, about 20 percent. 

On plumber's and pipefitter's work, from 50 to 100 percent. 

On elevator work, from 100 to 1,000 percent. 

On electric work, 100 percent and more. 

By a fair comparison, I have found that the saving of 4 percent of 
the gross income can be affected by employing a local repair force. 



180 



PART VII 



Buying Supplies, Etc. 



PurchasingSuppliesfor an Office Building 

By J. M. Walshe 

WHEN the first proposal to manage an office building was made fo 
me, I was in the electric contracting business in Texarkana, and 
though the proposition came from a friend, who I am sure now, 
had only my interests at heart, I hesitated and debated the question in my 
mind for some time, trying to see that it wasn't a joke (I had never heard 
of a building manager), and that such a position was not less dignified 
than the one I thought I was entitled to. After some close consultation 
with other friends, I decided to accept the "job." I was bundled off to 
St. Louis to look over the buildings there, and to gather as many ideas 
as possible on the systematization, operation and maintenance of an office 
building. It was there I met a very reserved manager, who immediately, 
through his bearing and manner relieved me of any sense of a building 
manager being a joke. By a little diplomacy, and showing that I was 
really interested in the matter, this quiet man, Mr. Guy Wright of the 
Wright Building, St. Louis, and his able corps of assistants opened up their 
wells of information, and in a week I had absorbed more knowledge con- 
cerning the management and maintenance of an office building than I 
ever knew existed. Needless to say, I went back to Texarkana with an 
entirely different feeling toward the position of building manager than 
when I left. 

My first task was the systematization of the operation end of the 
building, and in about a month I had been able to establish a very good 
order of things, which proved efficient. 

Passing over this initial period to the time v/hen I had an opportunity 
to take up the purchasing of the supplies used in the building, I will try to 
tell you what I found and how it was remedied; but before going into the 
details of this matter, I will ask you to bear in mind that one of the things 
we have to contend with in the southv/est that is most discouraging, is 
the high rate of freight we have to pay, and you will note all through my 
paper that the prices are based on this freight rate, which has been taken 
into consideration, and undoubtedly you live near manufacturing centers, 
and in the east, will be able to get much better results in the price line 
than we have on this account. 

On my daily rounds of inspection, I noticed a great quantity of toilet 
paper on the floors of the toilet rooms, which led me to investigate the 
cause. I found that these sheets were pulled off in bunches, either mali- 
ciously or abstractedly, or that the paper rack in one toilet would be empty, 
and the next man in would grab a handful of paper out of the other toilet, 
and leave what was left on the tank or throw it on the floor. To try to 
overcome this latter part of the loss, I had janitor leave an extra bundle 
of paper in each toilet for such an emergency, thinking that the tenants 
would be glad to put it in the rack when the other paper was out, but oh, 
my, how mistaken I was. The extra roll was either stolen, thrown in 
the closet, or the wrapper taken off and littered over the floor. I looked 

183 



hard for some system to overcome this, and sent for samples of several 
makes of racks, and after carefully looking into the merits and demerits 
of each and every one, I applied a test which gave them all equal ad- 
vantages in showing their economy and efficiency. I selected a toilet 
room on a floor that was leased to a large railroad company. I put on 
one rack at a time, and kept a close record of each for thirty days, and 
I give you here the results of that test: 

Name. Rolls per mo. Cost per roll. Total. 

No. 1 iVz 6c 27c 

No. 2 4 6c 24c 

No. 3 V/s 8%c lie 

This gave us a clear saving of 13 cents per toilet per month, and we 
tried it several times in several places to prove it. In addition to this 
saving, we found a great many other advantages in this package. We 
installed this system throughout the building, and were exceedingly well 
pleased with the results. We tried many other papers, some that cost as 
low as three cents per roll, but we found from a basis of efficiency that 
the above papers were about the only ones worth considering of those 
that we tried. 

In the matter of feather dusters, I have had many interesting remarks 
passed in communicating with managers throughout the country, and in 
one case especially, I asked the question, "Do you use feather dusters?" 
and got this reply, "Yes, damn 'um," which remark seemed to me quite 
appropriate. 

We had been buying dusters of the one hundred feather sixteen-inch 
size in half dozen lots, at seventy-five cents each, and it seemed as though 
we were constantly buying dusters. I noticed two things — one that the 
handles were always gone, and the other that the dusters were thrown 
away when about half worn out. I put on a careful test on the dusters of 
different kinds and types, and finally selected a duster with 150 16-inch tail 
feathers, wire bound, with leather glove and a short stub handle, as giving 
the best results, and this gave us a saving of about sixty percent on our 
duster bill, and we were able to use all the old dusters on the grille work 
in the elevators. 

In reply to the list of questions I sent to certain building managers 
throughout the country, reference to the supplies, I found that they were 
all using cheese cloth for cleaning rags, paying an average of three and 
one-half cents per yard by the bolt. I had tried cheese cloth but gave it 
up when I found that I could buy clean, white, sanitary rags in bales at 
six cents per pound, and that these rags saved me over fifty percent of 
my cheese cloth bill, and, in addition, to my great surprise, found that 
after their usefulness upstairs was over, if they were washed, they made 
excellent cleaning rags for the machinery in the basement; so we not only 
saved in cost of cheese cloth, but almost entirely eliminated the cost of 
waste in the engine room. We distributed the rags in one pound lots. 

Next, I found that we had been buying our toilet soap from the barber 
shop in the building. This was the soap that was left over after a person 
took a bath, and as each bather was furnished a new one-ounce bar in 
its original package, there was considerable left, for which pieces we paid 
one cent a cake. After devoting a little time to this, I found that I could 
buy toilet soap of an excellent quality in two-ounce packages at $3.00 per 
gross, and have the name of the building on each cake, also a special color 
that would not be sold to anyone else in town, so that we could distinguish 

184 



our soap wherever found. This fact soon became noised around town, and 
we found that our soap supply lasted from two to three times longer than 
previously. Our janitors have instructions to pick this soap up whenever 
found in the offices and replace it in the toilet rooms, as we supply soap 
in the toilet rooms only, and allow the Towel Supply Company to furnish 
it in the offices. I am doing much better than this now, however, but still 
retaining the color scheme. By making a contract with the Towel Supply 
Company, giving them exclusive rights in the building they furnish us 
twenty-five clean towels every day for use in our toilet rooms, and sell us 
the same soap at $2.00 per gross, for which we had been paying $3.00. 

The mop question is a much debated proposition, and I am sure that 
every building manager will be interested in our solution of this problem. 
We were paying fifty cents to seventy cents each for cotton string mops 
with handles, and carried no stock on hand, from the fact that each janitor 
or janitress wanted a different weight and a different size according to 
their strength and ability to handle it. I had been told to buy mop yarn 
in bales. After some careful study and making many inquiries, I found I 
could buy mop yarn in balls at twelve and one-half cents per pound, and 
could make up any size or weight of mop that I needed, eliminating the 
necessity of carrying a large stock and many sizes. This required getting 
a mop stick that would hold the strands of the mop without their being 
sewed. This I found in a mop stick which fastened and held the mop yarn 
tightly without being sewed, and the stick outlasted many mops. 

We had been using sweeping compound on the floors of the corridors, 
and in the banking room, and were paying from $3.50 to $6.00 per barrel 
for it. I was sure that somebody was buying standard oil stock with his 
profits from this gold brick, so I tried different methods of making this 
ourselves, and found that by taking some good, hardwood sawdust mixed 
with one-third clean river sand, sprinkled with a good grade of disinfectant 
and some coal oil, a mighty good sweeping compound was produced, and 
gave the desired results at a cost of about fifty cents per wagon load. I 
might add that I have since discarded the use of sweeping compound en- 
tirely; having found that it was really of not much practical use. 

We used push brooms on the tile fioors of the corridors, and paid $2.75 
each for a twenty-four-inch Russian bristle brush with a pretty red back 
and handle. I kept my eyes open on this for over a year, and talked with 
everyone I thought knew anything about brooms, or brushes, but to no 
avail, until I accidentally found one that entirely suited my every need, 
at $12.00 per dozen, and also found that these same brooms were being 
supplied to all the large wholesalers, but It took me over a year to find It. 
I received a little post card once that particularly applies to this push 
broom proposition, and on the post card was printed In red letters, "I'll 
do anything once; if I like It, I'll do It again" — and this I thought was 
particularly applicable to the purchasing of supplies. 

With reference to corn brooms, I must say that I have had little, if 
any, success In economy, except that I can now look at a broom and judge 
pretty well how good or bad it is. I find that a good, clean corn broom is 
about $5.50 per dozen, with five strings or a metal cap will give me the best 
service I have been able to get. 

In the matter of powdered soap, I have been experimenting carefully 
for nearly a year, and have tried many kinds and makes and am still 
searching for something better. The best results I have been able to ob- 

185 



tain have been with a cleaning compound for the tile and marble floors, 
which costs about four cents per pound. Where the tile and marble floors 
cover considerable area, and where the corridors are wide and long, I 
strongly recommend the use of a scrubbing machine, as being very econom- 
ical and giving very good results. You need not, however, expect to put 
this machine into the hands of an inexperienced janitor to work out his 
own problems with it — it requires careful and systematic operation and 
instruction in handling it in order to get the desired results. It is queer 
how some things come up unexpectedly, and from what sources they 
originate. When I wrote the first copy of this paper, I made a note in it 
to this effect: 

"Right here I want to ask some one who has found a real successful win- 
dow cleaner to let me hear from him, as I have not been able to do so." 

This was about four weeks ago, and a few days later, a young man 
from the bank walked into my office and showed me a little package that 
he called a window cleaner, and asked if I ever tried it. I told him no, 
that it did not look good to me, but that I would be very glad to give it 
a trial. He said that a friend of his had bought two or three cases at a 
railroad wreck, and if I could use it, he would make me a very low price. 
I turned it over to the window washer, and am pleased to advise that his 
records show that he was able to wash, clean and polish most successfully, 
over 150 windows with this one package of "it," at a cost of 3i^ cents per 
package, and I found that the windows were thoroughly cleaned and had 
a very fine polish. I also discovered that the reason he had to stop when 
this number of windows was washed was because the cloth wrapper or 
bag had worn out. He is now experimenting with another bag on the out- 
side of the original package, and uses it this way. I am quite sure that 
this is going to solve the window cleaning problem, but, nevertheless, I 
would still like to hear from someone who has successfully met this 
problem. 

Most buildings have to use considerable metal polish and it is very 
expensive, and very easily wasted. I think, perhaps, I am somewhat of a 
crank about having metal around the building clean and polished and kept 
that way — and for this reason, I have been more careful in trying to find 
a good polish that would keep bright for the longest period of time. I 
have tried everything that has been brought to my notice and found that I 
got very good results from using a certain metal polish. This polish gives 
a high lustre — is unburnable — does not evaporate, and does not contain 
ammonia or other acids that are unpleasant to use. It puts on a finish 
that lasts an unusually long time, and costs about 70 cents per gallon. I 
find also that if you will take a piece of cotton cloth soaked in castor oil, 
and rub it over the surface of the brass just after it is polished, then rub 
the brass off thoroughly with a dry rag, that a thin coat of oil will have 
formed over the brass, preserving it in this condition for a very long time. 
<^. Almost every building supplies towels in the toilet rooms. My experi- 
ence has been that quite a number of these towels are missing from time 
to time, and at the end of a year, it makes quite a fair sized item. To over- 
come this stealing in my present building, I bought a special towel rack 
that locked the towels on the roller bar with a key, making it impossible 
for anyone to take a towel off the rack without a key, or without cutting 
it, which it is improbable they will do. 

Next, I took up the engine room, and here I had to fight for every 

186 



concession. The engineer was an old-time steam man, and was abso- 
lutely sure that he knew all there was to be known in that end of the 
business, and would not allow any up-start to tell him or show him 
what he ought to do. He was not very much pleased with my being put 
in charge, and was, therefore, not inclined to assist me very much, but 
after studying the man and the conditions for awhile, I insisted on certain 
reforms and radical changes in the installation and general system of 
handling this department. We had two direct connected engines and 
generators and the erecting engineer who installed the plant had advised 
the engineer to keep a pretty good load on the engines all the time in 
order to make them do their work well. He seemed to give absolutely no 
consideration of the matter of efficiency, or of economy of operation. I, 
therefore, proceeded at once to find out just what point these engines 
would operate most economically. I cut the day load down to a point 
v/here we got the greatest efficiency out of our lighting plant during the 
day. Then I went into the boiler proposition. We were using natural gas 
under a pressure of eight ounces at 11 cents per thousand feet, and our 
records were showing very poor efficiency, so we experimented first with 
one boiler for a month, then the other, changing the burners, draft, 
and damper connections, baffle and fire walls, until we found that we could 
get the greatest efficiency at the least cost, and in this experiment found 
that we could get much better results from home-made burners than from 
any of the manufactured ones that we had seen or tried, and we cut our 
gas bill from $355.00 per month to $256.00. I made these tests by checking 
the reading of the wall meters, which I had put on each generator panel of 
the switchboard, and the water meter on the boiler feed line against the 
gas meter. 

I noticed that we were using considerable cylinder oil in the engines — 
about two barrels per month, at 80 cents per gallon, using twenty-eight 
drops per minute in the larger engine and twenty-two drops per minute in 
the smaller engine. This seemed considerable to me, but the engineer 
insisted this was the least amount of oil on which he could run his engine 
safely. Not being satisfied, however, 1 wrote to the makers of the engines 
and asked their recommendation as to the kind of oil to use, and how to 
tell when the engines were receiving the right amount of oil. They took 
pleasure in telling me all I wanted to know on this point, and in trying to 
put their recommendation into practice, notwithstanding the economy that 
would possibly result and that no possible harm could come to the engines, 
if carefully watched. The engineer became very antagonistic and took the 
matter over my head to the president of the building company, telling him 
that he had been an engineer all his life, and knew more about engines 
in a minute than I did in a week, and that if I was allowed to proceed, I 
would surely ruin the engines, and cause the building company consider- 
able annoyance and expense. I insisted, however, and after some threaten- 
ing, tried the scheme out, and in a month we had cut the supply of oil to 
the large engine from twenty-eight drops per minute to six drops per 
minute, and on the small engine, from twenty-two drops to four drops 
per minute, and the engines were running with plenty of oil, and to the 
best of my knowledge are still running this way. Oil, to most men, is an 
unknown quantity, and its sale mostly depends on how good a fellow the 
salesman is, or whether he belongs to the same lodge. There is a simple 

187 



test that you may apply to the different oils you use to try their lubricating 
qualities. 

Procure as many light watch crystals as you have samples, fill each 
of the crystals with a different oil, and place them in an even temperature, 
say 75 or 80 degrees Fahr. In the course of a few days, giving them an 
opportunity to absorb oxygen, test by taking an ordinary pin with a large 
head, dip the head end of the pin into the center of the oil, lifting it up 
slowly, you will then notice that there is a good deal of difference between 
them. Some will drop clean off the head of the pin, others will string out, 
connecting the pin to the surface of the oil; while others have become 
so thick that the pin head will attach itself to the heavy coating on the 
surface of the oil, so that the crystal and its contents can be almost lifted 
up and held in suspension. 

Amongst the various samplers, try castor oil and ordinary kerosenes, 
you will notice that both of those named will free themselves from the 
pin head at once — the first named somewliat slowly, by reason of its 
natural viscosity, and the second quickly, by reason of its fluidity. The 
reason for this is that the castor oil and kerosene do not absorb oxygen 
freely, and therefore do not thicken. The castor oil will, in the course of 
time become rancid, but its lubricating qualities are not greatly injured by 
the rancidity. Kerosene, of course, has very little lubricating value, and 
the comparison is made simply to show the action of the atmosphere on 
them. 

All the commercial lubricating oils that are offered today have a 
petroleum base, and their value is increased by the amount of animal or 
vegetable fat they contain. The animal fats are tallow, lard oil and fish 
oil. The vegetable oils are more numerous, such as olive, palm, cotton, 
corn, rape, etc., etc. All the above mentioned fats can be readily mixed 
with the mineral or petroleum oils, the mixing of which is an art in itself, 
and no general recipe can be given for combining them. As a rule, most 
of them are mixed together in a heated condition; if mixed cold, they will 
not hold in solution, owing to the differences in their specific gravity. The 
temperature varies in every case, and with each different fat. Castor will 
not mix with petroleum oils under any condition. 

The oil that will not readily absorb oxygen is a good lubricant, and 
the oil that does so, is a poor one. The oil that absorbs oxygen freely, 
fires spontaneously, becomes a source of danger. Linseed oil, rape 
oil, olive oil, lard oil, tallow oil, will fire spontaneously, with a slight rise 
in temperature. Saturate pieces of cotton waste with each of those named, 
press all the oil out of the cotton waste until it is comparatively dry, 
place the different samples of saturated cotton waste directly under the 
sun's rays, and you will find that they will fire in about the order named, 
or place them in a temperature of about 90 degrees Fahr. and they will 
fire in from four to eight hours' time. The greatest danger comes from 
the piece of cotton waste lightly saturated with linseed oil, or as is fre- 
quently the case, a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine; hence the great 
• danger following the average painter, who carelessly throws his cotton 
waste about without any thought of what may follow. (Hence, the reason 
why insurance companies insist on certain precautionary measures.) 

A great many experiments have been made and a great deal of dis- 
cussion has taken place over the relative value of solid and liquid lubri- 
cants, and as a general rule, wherever a liquid lubricant can be fed reg- 

188 



ularly, it is better than a solid lubricant, unless it be on a heavy, slow mov- 
ing bearing, whose great weight practically squeezes all the lubricant out, 
hence we find that all heavy engine shafts are generally lubricated by 
solid lubricants, supplemented by an occasional drop of liquid. 

Makers of solid lubricants claim greater economy over liquid lubri- 
cants, and while this may be perfectly true as far as the oil account is 
concerned, the 'economy is procured at the expense of the power and fuel 
account. 

I think that every engine room, no matter how small, ought to be 
equipped with an oil filter, for any good grade of oil can be filtered and 
used over again, possibly once, and sometimes twice, and then the residue 
from the filter makes a very good lubricant for the elevator guide, if prop- 
erly mixed with flake graphite. 

In buying an oil filter, however, I would advise there is no economy 
in buying a cheap, imperfect one. I would strongly suggest purchasing 
the very best on the market, and one which has well made parts, and is 
made up on good mechanical lines. 

We were purchasing our water from the water corporation, and after 
getting a reading on the water meters every day for a month, I tried 
several experiments with leaky faucets, and these all showed such a con- 
siderable waste that I found it expedient to have every leaky faucet in 
the building repaired at once, and arranged to keep them so. This re- 
duced our water consumption from 10,000 to 6,000 gallons per day, which 
more than paid for the trouble. In my present building, they found during 
construction, a number of springs in the sub-basement which seemed ap- 
parently of good quality of water, and which it was contemplated pump- 
ing into the sewer. After some careful study it was decided to save this 
water for use throughout the building. 

This was done in a very simple and easy manner, and after having 
two chemical analyses made, we are using it now in the building for 
every purpose except drinking water, and have all we need, throwing away 
over 300 gallons per hour besides. This saves us over a hundred dollars 
per month water bill, and costs only the amount of power required to 
pump the water to the roof, which is very small as we would have had 
to pump the water part of the distance anyway. 

The coal question is one to which I have given considerable thought, 
possibly because I had an option on 4,000 acres of liquite coal in Texas, 
which I thought would some day make me a little extra pin money, but 
my balloon bursted, because the coal slacked so quick that it could not 
be shipped. In our country where it is considered that we have the best 
steam coal in the world, we are unable as yet to purchase on the b. t. u. 
contract basis, the dealers not having arrived at this point yet. Arkan- 
sas coal varies considerably, being high in b. t. u. and low in ash. It 
is very fine steam coal, but a poor, slow burner. Being unable to buy on 
a guarantee b. t. u. basis, and not using coal enough to warrant having 
an analysis made, we experimented with all the different coals in the field 
for short periods of time until we found which coal would evaporate the 
greatest amount of water per ton and leave the least amount of ashes. 
As a little instance of how easy a man is sometimes fooled in the pur- 
chase of coal, I want to tell you that I have a little hot water heater in 
the building, which works under practically the same conditions every 
day in the year, and in carrying on a series of coal experiments, with 

189 



this heater, we found that one ton of coal, costing $4.50, lasted us six days 
and a half, while another ton, costing ?C.OO, lasted tv/olve days, showing a 
saving of about 30 percent in using the higher priced coal. In plants that 
are not equipped to get fairly accurate records of ef)iciency, I think you 
■will find it well to check the coal bill w^ith the water evaporation by 
placing a water meter on the boiler feed pipe and checking the coal against 
the water consumption, and weighing the ashes one day in each week. By 
trying the different coals under these conditions, you can get a very good 
idea of which coal will give you the greatest efficiency. 

Now, if you have arrived at a point where you are fairly sure about 
your coal situation, start experimenting with your fireman until you get 
him to a point where he knows how to keep a good, even, thin fire, and 
get every possible atom of efficient heat out of the coal. 

We could talk this coal question from nov/ till kingdom come, and I 
believe that even then there would be some questions left unanswered, so I 
will pass over the balance, and let these suggestions suffice for this dark 
subject. 

Some building managers may contend that the oil used on your elevator 
machinery has no effect on the elevator service, but I am quite sure that 
it has, and find that I can get better operation out of the elevators because 
of the lubricating quality of certain oils. I believe castor machine oil is 
most generally used in the worm gears of the electric elevators, but I 
found, after experimenting with different oils, that vegetable castor oil 
was much the best lubricant. I have tried many experiments and asked lots 
of questions of the elevator manufacturers, discovering finally that two 
parts of number 2 castor oil mixed w^ith one part of good dynamo oil, and 
this whole mixed with one-tenth part of flake graphite, gives excellent re- 
sults — is a good lubricant, and needs to be changed but once a year. 
When you change this oil, if you mix it again with another portion of 
graphite, you will find it gives excellent and economical results as a guide 
rail lubricant. 

No doubt you have all had trouble with lamps being stolen throughout 
the building. I have never heard of the problem being solved, and I don't 
know whether my solution is original or not; if it is, I hope you will all 
adopt it, and that you will find it is successful in keeping your lamps. 
Some tenants do not seem to have the least hesitancy about taking in- 
candescent lamps out of the building for use in their own homes, and 
thousands of homes are constantly supplied with these lamps by the office 
buildings of the country. 

When I purchased our lamps we made a contract to have every lamp 
etched with our name in a circle around the tip end, which showed up 
very clearly, and we figured that it would be improbable that a man would 
care to have a lamp with our name on it in his parlor; to say the least, 
it looks rather out of place, and we induced the electric light company 
to work with us to overcome the theft of lamps, and they instructed their 
employes that if any etched lamps were brought to them for exchange that 
they would refuse to exchange them and would take the name of the 
party presenting them and turn it over to us. This immediately, so far as 
we can tell, stopped all tendency to steal lamps from our buildings. 

No doubt a great many of you have considered the question of baling 
the waste paper from your building, and I believe it would be a very good 
thing to do, and am just about to install one in our building. I find that 

190 



I can sell the waste paper in bales, F. O. B. St. Louis, at a minimum of 
42^ cents per hundred, and that it can be baled and shipped, with all 
expenses paid, for about 20 cents per hundred pounds. The only bad 
feature is the fact that we are obliged to find storage room for a carload 
of paper; this proposition, however, I think can be worked out in a satis- 
factory manner. I have before me a report from the Nicholas & Spitzer 
buildings, Toledo, Ohio, who have nad their presses in for some time. I 
understand that they received about 20 cents per hundred pounds, or $4.00 
per ton from the local junk man, who called every morning and removed 
the paper prior to their putting in a waste paper baler. After putting in 
the baler, however, they sold it at $8.00 per ton, and at this price it shows 
the following revenue: 

In six months they sold 26,000 pounds in one building for $106.80, with 
a net cost of $5.00 for freight and expense, leaving them a net return of 
$101.80, or $203.60 in one year. The other building sold 37,200 pounds of 
paper for $148.80, with a total expense of $5.00 for freight, etc., etc., leaving 
a net return for a year of $287.60. 

I have before me some figures compiled by one of the paper press manu- 
facturers which gives the average statement of twenty-two users of 
paper baling presses, and for your information I give you this report as it 
was given me: 

Average time presses in use, 11 months. 

Average number of pounds of paper baled, 28,007. 

Average gross returns, $118.50. 

Average cost of freight and expense, $9.45. 

Average net returns, $109.05, 

Average net returns annually, $157.86. 

Average net returns on the investment, 243 percent. 

I also submit herewith a general report of paper baled and sold from 
nineteen states, as follows: Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Iowa, 
Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin. 

Average time presses were in use, eleven months; average number 
pounds of paper baled, 23,225; average gross returns, $92.45; average cost 
freight and expense, $7.08; average net returns, $85,37; average net re- 
turns annually, $98.82; average net returns on investment of 134 presses, 
$152.00. 

Personally, this looks to me like a very profitable investment, even 
though there were no cash returns at all; the mere fact of having the 
paper securely baled and the building kept free from litter and refuse 
from this source would seem overwhelmingly in favor of the paper baler. 

Last summer at Texarkana I thought I would get ahead of the paper 
baler people by using one of the many hay balers that are on the market, 
and save about $35.00 or $40.00, but after going into the matter very 
carefully I found that it took a different type of machine to bale waste 
paper than it did to bale hay; so I proved to be more of a farmer than I 
suspected. 

There are so many systems of purchasing supplies and keeping rec- 
ords of them that it is difficult to set down any hard and fast rule by 
which to work. I find, however, that every manager I wrote to uses a 
requisition from the supply room, and a written order to the dealer. In 

191 



J. 



my own case, I keep all the supplies in one room in the basement in charge 
of the engineer, under lock and key. All material is purchased, on receipt 
of requisition, by the oflQce on numbered written orders, in triplicate. 
The original goes to the dealer, duplicate remains in the oflBce, filed under 
"supplies heading," and triplicate goes to supply room, where it remains 
on file until goods are received, when it is checked, O K'd and returned to 
office to be filed with invoice and voucher. The invoice is thus easily 
checked by this triplicate copy. Every piece of material is checked in the 
supply room and kept in its proper place. 

For keeping a record of supplies going out, I am just working out a 
system, the idea of which was conceived from a certain register system. 
The form is like a grocery charge tab, containing space for item, amount, 
weight, floor, and a forwarding and balance column. We use one of these 
sheets for each kind of article and at the end of each month or period 
we have an exact record of supplies used on each floor, a permanent in- 
ventory and constant check, the recapitulation of which makes interesting 
study matter. I cannot give you the actual results from practice on this 
system as yet, but hope to be able to do so in a few months. I have 
studied it very carefully and believe it will meet every need successfully. 
All the old tools, supplies, lamps, etc., must be returned to the supply room 
before new articles are issued. 

We have a card index purchasing record and keep records of pur- 
chase, date, quantity, freight, drayage and other necessary items for future 
information. 

Every manager has hundreds of different articles presented to him 
every year, and he should be always open to be convinced of the merits or 
demerits of every one, to carefully test and try each new product, for there 
is no telling which piece of the cake contains the plums. Cost is a sec- 
ondary consideration where efficiency is evident. I have had many other 
interesting deductions, but would not think of taking up more of your 
time just now. 

Through the application of the above practices, I was able to reduce 
the operating expense in eight months' time from $2,154 per month to 
less than $1,100, and the installation of systematic operation increased the 
efficiency, cleanliness and general conduct of the building to such a marked 
degree that everybody sat up and took notice, and in a short time its 
vacant offices were being sought instead of seeking. 




192 



The Office Building Supply Department 

By Frank McLean 

BUYING supplies so that you may receive the most in quantity and 
best in quality at the lowest price is one of the chief concerns of 
managers of large office buildings, and they are forever on the look- 
out for the least advantage that may be had in making purchases at the 
most reasonable figure. Most managers will tell you frankly that they be- 
lieve the matter of buying supplies the most responsible duty that falls 
to the lot of the men who undertake to keep the janitor service of the 
big buildings up to the highest efficiency at the lowest cost, and those 
who require a reputation for sagacity in this regard are considered the 
most desirable men that could be placed in charge of the large buildings. 

Managers of the progressive type are always in touch with innovations 
introduced in the working departments of rival buildings that have proved 
a success. They are particularly anxious to know all about the opera- 
tion of the engineering department of other buildings, as so many of the 
accessories of this department in the form of oils, greases, etc., are offered 
for sale by convincing salesmen that they are at times puzzled to know 
just what to do. However, the plan pursued by most managers when oils, 
greases, etc., of vaunted superiority are offered for trial is to telephone 
to the manager of a building that the salesman insists has been using his 
products with unmeasured success and find out just what results have 
been achieved. If it is learned that the oil or grease really has merit the 
manager who is asked to give it a trial in his building will govern himself 
accordingly, and it has been found that mistakes have seldom been made 
when this plan has been followed. Also, the engineer is relieved of re- 
sponsibility for poor judgment if the item proves to be unsatisfactory, and 
in addition he avoids the imputation of favoritism in recommending this 
or that company's produce. However, most managers assert that the 
average engineer is so determined to have all of the machinery of his de- 
partment working smoothly that it is to his benefit to secure the best oils 
and greases that can be obtained, regardless of who manufactures them. 
It is for this reason that the engineer is relied on in testing samples, 
although in rare cases favoritism might develop. 

Building managers who are recognized as the most astute in the 
matter of dealing with the janitor problem and the purchase of supplies 
insist that there is only one way to conduct the supply end of the man- 
agement and that is to confine the buying exclusively to the manager. 
The plan that has been followed in many buildings whereby the engineer 
is permitted to give the order for supplies needed for his department and 
the heads of the other departments to do likewise has been found to be 
decidedly unsatisfactory. The reason for this is that there is too much 
confusion when orders for supplies are given by all the department heads, 
and, furthermore, there is opportunity for favoritism to develop — one of 
the menaces to successful management of buildings that should be avoided 
above all others. Variance in prices quoted during periods in which sup- 

193 



plies were purchased by department heads and while purchased on requisi- 
tion from the manager's office was convincing enough to the head of a 
large Chicago office building to cause him to issue an order that in the 
future all supplies, no matter what the price, must be procured on the 
"O. K." of the order by the manager, otherwise the bill would not be paid 
under any circumstances. The department heads, who at first were rather 
disposed to ignore the rule, when they found that in order to procure 
some item that they might need for emergency use and which might cost 
less than one dollar, they must first secure a requisition from the man- 
ager's office, finally came to realize that the plan would prove the best 
after all, and today they assert that they much prefer to work under the 
new system than under the old. 

"We have had the requisition plan in effect here for a long time," said 
J. E. Randell, manager of the Commercial National Bank building, Chicago, 
"and it has proved so satisfactory that all of the department heads have be- 
come convinced that no other system could work as perfectly. In the first 
place, if the engineer or janitor should want to purchase this or that item 
their order must be approved by me, which puts me in the position of 
knowing just what is wanted and when it is wanted. Not a single item 
can be purchased for the building without a requisition from me, and in 
case any bill should be presented without my first knowing that I O. K'd. 
the order I would refuse to honor the bill. Again, in the event that a 
bill through some confusion should be presented a second time all I 
would have to do would be to refer to our perfect index system to know 
just what was ordered, when ordered and whether the bill had been paid. 
Even if an item were sent on approval, I would not honor it when I found 
that an order had not been O. K.'d by me. 

"The principal feature of the requisition plan is that It prevents the 
supply houses from playing politics with our employes. There was a 
time when a representative of a supply house might call at the building, 
see the janitor or engineer, slap them on the back, present cigars and 
then expect to get an order. But on the requisition scheme the depart- 
ment heads have only to say to the representatives of supply houses that 
they have nothing whatever to do with the buying of supplies and will 
refer them to the manager's office. The supply house men realize that 
this thing of tossing over a cigar to the manager of the building will have 
no effect, and the best that they can do is depend upon price and the 
quality of goods. However, at times when some supply man happens to 
drop in on the engineer with some item that it is evident is superior to an 
article that we might have been using for some time, the engineer will 
take the man up to my office to talk over the matter. I generally insist 
that the supply house forward us an order on trial, believing that if the 
item has merit the house will not be afraid to let us give it a trial. When 
the supply house man that might visit the building is merely one of the 
regular callers, the engineer will advise him forthwith that it is no use 
wasting words with him, but to go up and see the manager. Our de- 
partment heads have become so satisfied with the requisition system that 
they tell me they are pleased to have the responsibility of buying taken 
off their hands, and that since we have introduced the plan in every de- 
partment of the working force results have been beyond expectations, 
and we would not think of changing to the old system under any circum- 
stances. Furthermore, the requisition plan makes It much easier for my 

194 



office help to keep track of orders and bills, and I can say that not once 
a year do we have any confusion in the matter of bills being presented 
a second time for payment or anything of that sort. The original order 
is sent to the supply house and we keep duplicates in the office." 

Mr. Randell asserts that he always keeps in close touch with his help, 
advises with the engineer and other department heads from time to time 
to find out their needs and makes his purchases accordingly. He reposes 
the utmost trust in his men, and whenever they tell him of a certain item 
that they believe is worthy a test he gets into touch with the supply house 
and arranges for a trial. The average department head will gauge his 
conduct according to the conduct of the manager, and when he finds that 
the latter is capable and conscientious the department head will do every- 
thing In his power to develop a high standard of efficiency. 

The Commercial National Bank building buys 100 boxes of bar soap 
at a time, there being sixty bars to the box. The soap is placed on racks 
to dry and is left there three months. In this way about 75 percent of 
the soap is saved. Each of the scrub women is given two bars of the 
soap a night. In the purchase of soap powders a quality is procured with 
just enough soap to make the mop slip over the hall floors. The water 
and soap take off the dirt, while the grit cleans it off. When powder con- 
taining a high percentage of soap is used the marble floors become too 
slippery, a condition that most building managers seek to guard against. 
Mr. Randell buys five barrels of the powder at a time. It is placed in 
bins which slope down with a sliding door, and the receptacles are filled 
each night after the stockman weighs the powder. By the weighing process 
It is possible to tell to an ounce how much powder each worker will 
require for a night's work. For a long time Mr. Randell found that the 
floors were too slippery, and he soon realized that the reason for this was 
that the workers were using too much of the powder. Ten thousand bars 
of soap and 26,000 pounds of soap powder are necessary to keep the 
building clean for one year. 

The dusters used in the Commercial National Bank building generally 
last about three months, and after their usefulness for dusting furniture, 
desks, etc., has expired they are used for transoms, shafts, etc. Special 
care is used in their selection. It Is in the purchase of sponges that the 
manager must use his good judgment, as it is possible for the supply house 
to practice much deception by adding false v/eight in form of sand, gelatine, 
etc. The prices of the sponges range from $2.50 to $3.25. The $2.50 sponge is 
invariably filled with sand, gelatine, etc., and is what is known as a "fill" 
sponge. The kind used by the Commercial National Bank building run 
five or six to the pound. Mr. Randell keeps In close touch with the daily 
market quotations and buys by the bale when the price is lowest. 

Buyers must also be on their guard in the purchase of chamois skins, 
French and American. Some are thick and others thin. They are sold 
by the "kip," or thirty skins, at from $7 to $15 a kip. This skin is used 
to clean windows and should be of uniform thickness. 

The most serviceable broom for the larger office buildings has been 
found to be one of five reinforcements. In most of the large buildings 
it is customary to purchase a stock of brooms that will last three months. 



195 



Make a Profit from Waste Paper 

THERE is perhaps no waste product about a building from which a 
better profit can be made than waste paper if it is judiciously sold. 
The usual practice is to have the baskets of paper emptied into 
bags. These bags are stored in the basement and are removed by the 
junk man about once a week. 

The dragging of these large bags full of scraps of paper through the 
halls is sure to stir up more or less dust and litter, and often admits a 
number of people to the building that, to say the least, require watching. 

None of the superintendents are particularly anxious to talk on the 
subject, as it is a delicate matter. In fact, the manager of one of the 
largest buildings in the world said: "The less you say about waste paper, 
the better. There is no use stirring up the insurance people in regard to 
this matter." 

The whole subject of waste paper is a troublesome and perplexing part 
of the management of a building, and scarcely any concern handles its 
waste in a scientific and thoroughly modern manner. Any fair-sized office 
building has at least a ton of waste paper a week, and is able to dispose 
of it at the rate of about 25 cents per hundred pounds. In some of the 
smaller cities it is given away, and in others a man is actually paid to 
remove this waste paper. 

The price of all paper has gone steadily up in the last ten or twelve 
years, and the gradual shortage of wood pulp means that the price will 
steadily advance, and this by-product of a large building, under proper 
management, could be made to pay a profit. 

One of the managers interviewed had a small hand-baling press in- 
stalled in his basement that would hold about two hundred pounds of 
paper. As fast as the waste was received, it was dumped into the press 
and kept undeF cover and pressure until enough was accumulated to make a 
bale. When the press was full, the lever was applied and a neat, compact 
bale was the result. 

This practice did away with the fire risk, which is of vital importance 
to every manager. The idea of a bin or a room half full of waste paper, 
some of which might be oily, lying loose for an entire week, is a matter 
about which the superintendent does not care to think of any more than 
is necessary. It is a good thing to conceal from the insurance inspector. 

Before our friend installed a press he received about twenty cents per 
one hundred pounds for his waste paper, but now he is enabled to get 
enough more so that he hopes to pay for his press inside of a year. 

Aside from the advantage of neatness and compactness in the stor- 
ing of the paper and the advance rate that can be received, the great 
point should be noted by every building superintendent, is the fact that 
all this waste is kept under heavy pressure, so that the danger of fire 
is greatly eliminated. 

196 



A letter from the Underwriters' Association as follows substitutes the 
statement: 

"We encourage the use of baling presses, as otherwise paper is per- 
mitted to accumulate and is very often the cause of serious fires. While 
there is no provision for a credit in the schedules used in rating, we are 
very often compelled to make an additional charge in the fire insurance 
rate when waste paper is strewn over the floor, which does not occur 
where a press is in the risk." 

Not only does the manager make money by selling his waste paper, 
but he insures himself against fire to a great degree. The paper, in 
baled form, will not burn, as it is pressed so tight. Space also is econ- 
omized, for pressed paper takes up about one-half the room that the 
loose paper requires. 

The prices on the ordinary grades of waste paper vary considerably, 
but we will give you the extremes. 

Mixed papers sell for as low as $8 per ton delivered, and as high as 
$18 per ton delivered. News as low as $9 delivered, and up to $20. 
Blanks and No. 2 shavings as low as $18 and as high as $27. No. 1 shav- 
ings as low as $32 per ton and as high as $45. 

To get this scrap to the mills, the paper must be baled, and paper 
baled is worth at the mills from 50 to 100 percent more than the above 
figures. This is how you bale the paper: Use the press as the receptacle 
for your waste. As you empty the paper into the baling case it is closed 
up. 

Four or five minutes' time a day will mean from $1.00 to $1.50 worth 
of scrap in shape for market every day. It actually takes less time to 
handle paper this way than to carry it out in an alley and burn it or have 
it carted off. 




197 



Buying Coal for a Building 

OWNERS and managers of large buildings probably buy for their 
heating and power plants more coal than any other one class of 
consumers. Still, owing to the lack of co-operation, each individual 
has had to take what is given and pay what is asked. The few exceptions 
to this rule have been where owners and managers have formed local as- 
sociations and pooled their interests, forcing more advantageous prices by 
sheer weight of their buying power. 

The full study that is now being given the matter should result in es- 
tablishing some standard of value for all grades of coal that shall be 
equitable for the dealer and more economical for the consumer. 

Of course it is not merely coal that is wanted; it is available energy, 
and judged by the standard, it is obvious that weight is not a good measure 
of value. Much has been said of late years in this connection about buying 
on the basis of thermal units, and large consumers have found no basis 
that meets their need more perfectly; still, it is admitted that the best of 
contracts and specifications made on this basis have not been wholly 
satisfactory. 

The purchase of coal, like any other purchases, should be based on 
results desired, but these results in coal depend quite as much on the 
adaptability of the fuel to the furnace, chemically and physically, as upon 
the number of thermal units the coal will yield. 

In one of the United States geological survey reports it is pointed out 
that coal highest in British thermal units is not necessarily best for a 
given purpose, even though it be completely burned, and cites as an in- 
stance that coals high in volatile matter are the most difficult to burn 
efficiently, although they are high in British thermal units. Further- 
more, coals of nearly the same percentage of volatile have different heat- 
ing powers on account of the presence of heavy hydrocarbons and tar, or 
volatiles which are not combustible at all. 

Again, the heating of coal, designated by British thermal units, varies 
in a general way with the proportion of other impurities or foreign matter 
which displace the valuable carbonaceous and heat-producing material. 
This foreign matter consists of earthy impurities, with the exception of 
moisture, form ash, and although the percentage of ash can be pretty 
accurately determined, this percentage does not always represent the ratio 
that the heating value is reduced or increased by the presence of the im- 
purities which make the ash. 

This is due to the fact that though generally the constituents of ash 
are earthy in character, consisting of slate, bone, etc., the chemical rela- 
tion they bear to the carbonaceous elements vary greatly. Ash retards 
the heating value of coal not only because it displaces the carbons, but 
because it serves also to envelop a portion of the heat-giving elements. 
For instance, a coal having a calorific value of 12,300 British thermal units 
and 16 percent ash, has 84 percent of combustible matter. It has been 

198 



demonstrated that the combustible matter, replaced in 1 percent of ash, 
is equivalent to about 150 British thermal units, while each percent of 
ash envelops under ordinary conditions an equivalent amount of heat units. 
In other words, each additional percent of ash means a decrease in the 
, calorific value by about 300 British thermal units. Ash, is also responsible 
for a decrease in available heat units, due to such causes as the removal 
of ashes heated to a high temperature, the inrush of air, due to the neces- 
sity of frequently cleaning fires, and the loss by the excess of air, due to 
cavities forming in the fire bed. 

The important bearing that the percentage of ash occurring in coal 
has upon cost of operation can best be appreciated when it is considered 
that each percent of ash is equivalent to 22.4 pounds of coal per long 
ton of coal. A ton of coal running 20 per cent in ash has 448 pounds of ash, 
so, in five tons of coal may be rejected if it shows more than 1.5 percent 
sulphur in anthracite or 2 percent in bituminous coal. 

Moisture seems to be the one element the amount of which it is easy 
to measure accurately, and the relation of which to the heat-producing 
value of coal is generally recognized. In buying coal, however, the mois- 
ture it contains is not given the attention which its importance deserves; 
for instance, in winter when shipments are exposed to heavy falls of snow 
and rain it is not unusual to find coal running as high as eleven percent 
in moisture. Frequently, too, ice forms in the cavities, and this weight 
is added to the weight of the coal. Not only is there a great loss in 
weight, but the heat units necessary to evaporate this moisture take just so 
much from the efficiency of the coal. 

There are always two ways of determining efficiency — theoretical and 
by actual test. Science has developed so far that frequently, or we might 
say generally, the one proves the other, but when there is a discrepancy, 
have abandoned or ceased to depend on the analytical tests in favor of 
the figures which the scales (for coal and ashes), the water meter, the 
recording pressure gauge and the recording electrical meters show. It has 
been found that it is far more necessary to determine carefully to what 
degree of efficiency the respective pressure gauge and the recording elec- 
trical meters show. It has been found that it is far more necessary to de- 
termine carefully to what degree of efficiency the respective kind and 
size of coal can be used in the grates, and the conditions under which the 
plant must operate, than it is to get that coal which shows by analysis 
the smallest percentage of ash and the highest British thermal unit. High 
percentages of combustible in the ashes actually removed means a greater 
loss than high percentage in the analysis, and this condition is almost in- 
variably due to unsuitability in the design of the grate, the force of draft 
used, and the size of the coal fired. Then, too, the personal element is a 
factor to be reckoned with. 

All this does not lessen the value of reliable analytical tests, but, as 
above suggested, the practical should supplement and be a check on the 
theoretical. 

Having determined what coal is best suited to the needs of a particular 
plant, the real problem comes up by what standard to determine its money 
value. 

The Government method is to request bidders to quote prices on the 
various sizes of anthracite, a definite standard of quality being specified for 
each size, and to furnish the standard of quality with the price of bituminous 

199 



coal offered. Awards are then made to the lowest responsible bidder for 
anthracite, and to the bidder offering the best bituminous coal for the lowest 
price, the proper award being determined as shown further on. 

The specifications become a part of the contract, the standards of qual- 
ity forming the basis of payment for coal delivered during the life of the 
contract. For coal delivered which is of better quality than the standard, 
the contractor is paid a bonus proportionate to the decreased value of the 
coal. The actual quality and value of coal delivered is determined by 
analysis, and the test of representative samples taken in a specified fuel- 
testing laboratory at Washington. 

In determining the award of the contract, consideration will be given to 
the quality of the coal offered by the bidder, as well as to the price per ton, 
and should it appear to be to the best interests of the Government to award 
the contract for supplying coal at a price higher than that named in lower 
bid or bids received, the award will be so made. The right to reject any 
or all bids and to waive defects is expressly reserved by the Government. 

Coal must be delivered from the car without being screened, but must 
be reasonably free from dust and fine coal. 

To receive consideration, bids must be based upon the following per- 
centages of ash for various classes of coal: 

Furnace 10% 

Egg .10% 

Stove 12% 

Chestnut 14% 

Pea 16% 

Buckwheat No. 1 18% 

Buckwheat No. 2 18% 

Coal with less ash than the standard will be paid for at a higher price 
and vice versa, in accordance with the provisions for payment. 

It is understood that the coal delivered during the winter will be of the 
same character as that specified by the contractor. 

Coal containing more than one (1) percent of sulphur, an excessive 
amount of dust and fine coal, or a percentage of ash in excess of the maxi- 
mum limits, indicated in the following table, will be subject to rejection: 

Furnace coal 14% 

Egg 14% 

Stove 16% 

Chestnut 18% 

Pea 20% 

Buckwheat No. 1 21% 

Buckwheat No. 2 21% 

An example of the way premiums and penalties are figured on the 
amount of ash is as follows: 

For buckwheat (dry) the standard is from 17.01 to 19.01 percent. 

For 16.51 to 17.00% 4c per ton premium is added. 

For 16.01 to 16.50% 6c per ton premium is added. 

For 15.51 to 16.00% 8c per ton premium is added. 

For 15.01 to 15.50% 10c per ton premium is added. 

For 14.51 to 15.00% 12c per ton premium is added. 

For 19.01 to 19.50% 4c per ton penalty is deducted. 

For 19.51 to 20.00% 8c per ton penalty is deducted. 

For 20.01 to 20.50% 14c per ton penalty is deducted. 

200 



For 20.51 to 21.00% 21c per ton penalty is deducted. 

For 21.01 to 21.50% 32c per ton penalty is deducted. 

For 21.50 to 22.00% 48c per ton penalty is deducted. 

Payment will be made on the basis of the price named in the proposal 
for the coal specified therein, corrected for variations in heating value and 
ash, as shown by analysis above and below the standard established by the 
contractor in his proposal. For example, if the coal contains two (2) per 
cent, more or less, British thermal units than the established standard, the 
price will be increased two (2) percent accordingly. 

The price will be further corrected for the percentages of ash, as shown 
above. 

With certain variations, this Government plan of buying is the one fol- 
lowed by most municipalities and other large buyers. All forms of contract 
have some form of premium or penalty, the range of which permit of con- 
siderable variation in the grade of coal delivered. This is in a measure 
overcome in some specifications by requiring the bidder to name the location 
of the 'mine and designation of the seam from which the coal is to come, 
but in any competitive plan it is almost impossible to get any great degree 
of uniformity, which is, after all, the thing most desired, for, by experi- 
menting, draft and method of firing can be adjusted to any grade of coal, but 
the necessity of frequent adjustment is far from desirable. 

It is natural, too, that a contractor should have his estimate with 
respect to the penalty, to safeguard himself In determining his bid. In 
actual practice it has been noted that the same coal for which good pre- 
miums have been paid could have been bought much cheaper in the regular 
way at circular quotations. 

Still another practical difficulty is in electing the samples for analysis. 
Here the personal element has to be reckoned with, and inspectors are 
likely to take samples from the tops of loads or places most easily accessible; 
then the samples are likely to be sent to the laboratory in receptacles not 
air-tight. The specifications of the Boston Board of Education endeavor to 
guard against this by not following provision, which, of course, is not alto- 
gether practicable: 

The sampling shall generally be conducted in the barge or vessel itself. 
One sample at least shall be taken from every shipment, its size varying 
with the size of the cargo, but for quantities of 500 tons never being less 
than 300 pounds. This sample shall include lump and fine coal, in as near 
the proportions in which they occur in the shipment as possible; for small 
cargoes it shall never be taken from less than twenty-five places, equally 
distributed through all parts of the cargo, while for larger cargoes the 
sample shall come from a proportionately larger number of places. All the 
coal taken out shall be reduced to %-inch size or smaller, thoroughly mixed, 
ana systematically quartered down like an ore pile. The coal shall be 
crushed finer after every quartering until about twenty pounds remain, op- 
posite diagonal quarters, from which two quarters shall serve to form the 
main sample for moisture and analysis, while the other two quarters may 
be taken to serve as a check sample for analysis. The main sample shall 
immediately be transferred to an appropriate container, provided with a 
tightly fitting cover and taken to the laboratory, where it shall at once be 
weighed. 

Even though it has not been practicable for moderately large consum- 
ers, like building managers, to buy on the thermal unit basis, extensive 

201 



inquiry has shown that analytical tests carefully conducted has served to 
put an effective check on the delivery of inferior coal. Some companies 
operating large properties have their own laboratories, and in New York 
it has been found convenient and profitable by some managers to employ 
the services of a fuel-testing company, whose experts make periodical visits 
of inspection, not only for the purpose of testing the coal, but to make in- 
dependent technical reports on general condition of the steam producing 
equipment. 

It is easy to see how much more weight a protest to a coal company 
would have if it were accompanied by actual evidence of inferior quality, 
and even though the premium and penalty plan is not applied, it is certainly 
fair to have some understanding in the contract about minimum British 
thermal units and maximum ash. The following shows a very good standard 
for such contract for anthracite: 



Name of • 8 

Size of Coal S^ ^ 

3 • C 

Ma 

Broken egg, stove and chestnut. . . .13,300 

Pea 12,300 

Buckwheat, No. 1, 2 and 3 12,200 

Standard for semi-bituminous: 



Name of Size. 






Run of mine 13,600 

Slack 13,300 



a (UTS 

n< 

3 

4 
4 



a va 

||< 

2 

2 



Is 



^ Si a 

C !2 ° 
R m u 

11 
16 
17 



°S 



C 

6 nj 

12 

14 



Bat 

3 3Q 

1.5 
1.5 
1.5 



-5 >^ 

P CXi. 

33Q 



«2 £ 



* C 1) •- 



v-;J2 3 U o 



eIII" 

5 >S 

'3-° 5 '^ 

22 
25 



202 



PART VIII 



Elevators 



Elevators: Their Types, and Rules for 
Their Care and Operation 

By J. J. Forbrich, Associate A. I. E. E. 

THE word "Elevator" is applied to machinery used to raise or lower 
a cage, car or platform between fixed landings. The principal parts 
are (1) the motor or motive power used for traction, (2) the car 
with guides and counterbalance weights, (3) the controlling devices, (4) 
the transmission, and (5) the safety appliances. 

Elevators are classed according to the motive power used for their 
operation, the most common types being hand-power, steam, belt-driven, 
hydraulic and electric. 

On every elevator, regardless of type or motive power, the weight of 
the car is counterbalanced. This is done so that its entire weight is not a 
dead weight but only the difference between the weight of the car and the 
counterweight. The counterweight must necessarily be lighter than the 
weight of the empty car and fixtures so that the car may descend when 
empty by its own weight, the power necessary to raise a car being only 
sufficient to raise the load plus the unbalanced weight. Counterweights are 
generally cast-iron blocks carried in a frame and run in guide ways usually 
constructed of T iron. 

An elevator is overbalanced when the power must be applied during 
both the up and down trip. This, as a usual rule, is done in all drum ele- 
vators, these being supplied with the reversible drum and motor. 

As there are now only two types of elevators in general use, namely, 
the electric and the hydraulic, this article will be confined to these. 

The different types of electric machines may be classified as (1) Trac- 
tion, (2) Worm Gear Traction, and (3) Worm Gear with Drum on which the 
cables are wound and unwound. 

The traction type elevator is one with a motor connected to a grooved 
sheave or wheel, the cables from the car going around this wheel and over 
an idler, then back over grooved wheel to the counterweight. In other words, 
the counterweight on one end of the cable and the car on the other holds 
the ropes to the grooved wheel tight so as to make them wind and unwind 
as the motor turns the wheel. 

In the Worm Gear and Drum types, whether machine is located in the 
basement or at top of hatchway, the hoisting ropes are wound on a drum. 
These ropes are always in duplicate, there being four ropes, two for the car 
and the other two for the counterweight. The only difference between the 
Direct Traction and the Worm Gear Traction is that in the latter, instead of 
having the traction sheave directly connected to a motor as it is in the 
former, the motor is operated at a higher speed, and the traction sheave is 
operated by a worm gear, reducing the speed of the motor to the speed re- 
quired for hoisting. The advantage that the Worm Gear Traction has over 
the Drum Worm Gear is purely a matter of greater safety. 

Hydraulic elevators today are considered the safest kind in use. They 

205 



may be classified as (1) Horizontal, (2) Vertical, (3) Plunger and (4) Piston 
types. 

The simplest form of these is the direct acting or plunger elevator, 
which is considered very good for either freight or passenger service, and 
shows a high degree of efficiency, but this type is not as generally used as 
the piston type because of the great amount of space necessary for its oper- 
ation, and the large volume of water it requires, this owing to the fact that 
the hydraulic cylinder and plunger have a length equal to the lift, which is 
obviated in the piston elevator by the introduction of multiplying sheaves. 
In the plunger elevator the power is exerted direct without the use of 
sheaves or cables, the car always being supported from beneath, there being 
no necessity for providing it with safety appliances such as are used on 
other elevators. Owing to the fact that the cylinder necessary to be sunk 
must have a length equal to the car travel, the cost of driving for the 
cylinder has a considerable bearing upon the cost of installation. This type 
of elevator, therefore, is not used in cheaper constructions. 

The hydraulic plunger elevator built by the Otis Elevator Company dif- 
fers from other hydraulic plunger elevators in the respect that when it is 
lifting the load, tTiere is ho water consumed, but it is being discharged from 
the cylinder. In this the plunger, being of solid steel and very heavy, 
lifts the load. The plunger descends into the cylinder as the car goes up. 
As the car is reversed and comes down, the water is pumped up to the 
required pressure; this plus the weight of the car raises the plunger. This 
type of elevator was designed to meet the requirements of high building 
service. It is very economical in operation, may be operated at very high 
speed, and very quickly started and stopped. This machine is usually oper- 
ated on a medium pressure, seldom going above 250 pounds per square inch. 
On this account it is possible to use the compression tank system. The 
compression tank is placed in the basement and the discharge tank either 
on the roof or in a location where it will be at least as high as the top of 
the cylinder so that the cylinder will always be filled with water, this acting 
as a safety brake. 

Controlling Devices: There are two systems of control, namely, elec- 
trical and mechanical. In the former the elevator is controlled by a small 
switch, within the car operating pilot circuits, which opens and closes the 
main line and reverses switches. When starting, there is great resistance 
within the armature circuit, and as the motor picks up speed this resistance 
is automatically cut out step by step by electrically operated switches, and 
by this means the current is prevented from increasing above the amount 
for which the motor is designed, and a gentle, smooth start is secured pro- 
portionate to the load. 

The mechanical system of control differs from that just described. In 
this the line switch is opened, closed and reversed by a lever or a wheel 
within the car by purely mechanical means. The closing of the switch admits 
starting current only to the motor and thereafter the control proceeds iu 
the manner already described. The starting resistance is cut out from the 
armature circuit by automatic switches step by step as the motor gains in 
speed, the same protection of the motor against heavy current being thereby 
assured. 

Elevator Safety Devices: All passenger cars that are hung by cables 
should have speed governor safety device equipment. This device will stop 
a car if for any cause it should get from under control. Running away may 

;S06 



be caused by any of a number of conditions, but less danger is to be feared 
from breaking of the cables than from some derangement of the mechanism 
which might permit the car to gain a dangerous momentum. This speed 
governor is provided to throw the safety device on the car into action when 
the car has attained a certain fixed speed in feet. 

The speed governor must, of course, be set somewhat in excess of the 
normal speed of the car so that it will not be likely to interfere with the 
normal running of the elevator. If a car runs normally at a speed 250 feet 
per minute, the speed governor ought to be set to trip when the car reaches, 
say 450 to 500 feet per minute. There are numerous devices for this purpose 
on the market, and when installing, some care should be exercised to select 
the one that will arrest the descent of the car with the least shock, thereby 
avoiding injury to the passengers. On the plunger elevators this device is 
not necessary on account of the remote probability of the car falling. 

Freight elevators should be equipped with a breaking safety device, so 
that in case the cable should break the springs would cause the device to 
grip the guides and stop the car, and it is also a good practice to have a 
speed governor safety attachment. One of the most frequent causes of 
freight elevator accidents is the breaking of the gearing in the winding 
mechanism, thus releasing the drum and allowing the car to drop, pulling 
the cables with it. 

Safety devices should be examined at regular intervals to make sure 
that they are in perfect working order. In the case of a breaking safety 
device it is only necessary to block the car so as to get slack cable and 
then test and determine whether the safety holds. With the speed gov- 
ernor safety appliance, a thorough examination will, as a rule, show with 
fair certainty whether the appliance will act in case of an emergency or not. 
But, rather than rest in doubt, a running test should be made even on these. 

All cars should also be equipped with a switch for throwing out circuit 
breaker. The safety devices ought to be inspected and cleaned at least once 
a week, and ought never to be allowed to get gummy from grit and grease. 
Sometimes the safety wedges are thrown in without apparent cause. This 
may be due to weak spring or dirt on the guides. Guides are often so dirty 
that the spring cannot prevent the wedge from catching. Always be sure 
where a weighed sheave is used on the governor cable that it is always sus- 
pended and not resting on the ground or the bottom of the shaft, as this 
will cause the cable to slacken and may throw it off the sheaves. Neglect 
in the inspection of this governor rope has been the cause of a great many 
accidents. This rope should receive inspection even more frequently than 
the hoisting cables and ought to be kept in just as good condition. By so 
doing, serious accidents may be prevented. The jaws or wedges of safety 
devices must always be kept clean and properly adjusted in order to attain 
effective operation. 

Elevator Cables: The most serious deterioration in elevator cables is 
due to the continual bending over sheave wheels or drums when under 
stress. This increases with the increase in speed or load. In order to have 
more work done, it is better to increase the load rather than the speed, as 
increasing the speed will wear out the cables a great deal quicker than 
increasing the load. 

All elevator cables should lead as straight as possible and idlers should 
be avoided wherever possible. The cables should be so arranged that in 
their travel they will always bend in the same direction and bear on the 

207 



same side of the sheaves if possible. Cables will break very quickly if 
passed under one sheave and over another. Care should also be exercised to 
have the grooves of drum, sheaves ana pulleys of the proper size and per- 
fectly smooth in order to accommodate the cables, the grooves being neither 
too small nor too large. It is also essential that the pulleys, drums and 
sheaves be in perfect line with the cables so that the cables will not wear 
or chafe on the side of the groove. Insurance companies consider that the 
highest efficiency in a cable is reached when abrasion of the wires is such 
that they are worn nearly half through before they begin to break. The 
length of time that it will take for this to occur depends, of course, on the 
amount of work being done by the cables. In ordinary passenger elevator 
work, about two years of constant service is considered a good life. I be- 
lieve that the time will come when elevator cables will be purchased on the 
basis of mile travel. If the wires in the cable are found to break off before 
any great amount of abrasion has taken place, and the cables have been 
used only a comparatively short time, they should be considered of poor 
quality and for safety sake be replaced as soon as possible, providing, of 
course, that this is not due to the cables passing over too small a sheave 
or the grooves in the same not being of the proper size. 

Elevator cables and counterweight cables of standard size are composed 
of six strands of nineteen wires each with a well lubricated hemp center. A 
cable with less strands and fewer wires is sometimes wrongly recommended 
and purchased. Owing to lesser flexibility this cable should not be used, as 
its deterioration is very rapid. It is, however, not necessary to replace a 
cable immediately when the wires begin to show wear, but when they do, 
they should be watched very carefully and inspected at frequent Intervals. 
In the beginning only a few wires may be broken, but later they begin to 
break rapidly. A very sharp watch should be kept and as soon as from 25 
percent to 35 percent of the wires in adjacent strands are found either 
badly abrased or broken, the cable should be discarded and replaced by a 
new one. No cable should be used for passenger or freight service when 
the deterioration amounts to more than 35 percent. 

It is often found that the wires begin to break on the inside of the 
cable first. This may be detected by noting broken wires down in the lay 
of the rope or in that part where one strand becomes covered by the one 
beside it. Wherever this condition is found, it is dangerous to take any 
chances and the cable should be at once replaced, as it is impossible to tell 
how many such breaks there may be. Elevator cables require lubrication 
much for the same reason as do high speed bearings or other rubbing sur- 
faces. Therefore it is essential when purchasing cable, that the amount of 
lubricant in the hemp center be ascertained, as it is difficult to lubricate 
the center of a cable after it is installed. Any good, liquid lubricant, free 
from acid, may be used for this purpose. When putting in new cables, it is 
good practice to thoroughly saturate them with raw linseed oil, or a com- 
pound of one part graphite to five of cylinder oil. This will soak in to the 
center and make amends, in a measure, for what was neglected in the manu- 
facture. The failure of wire cables may be attributed to one of three causes, 
viz.: crystallization in the wire, internal abrasion or wire cutting, or external 
abrasion and wearing of the wires. Crystallization in the wire occurs most 
commonly in cables that have been in use for some time, and it is very 
difficult to detect this in its early stages. The second and third causes are, 
however, mainly responsible for the majority of failures in elevator ropes. 

208 



The tensile strength of the metal used in elevator cables, according to 
the manufacturers, may vary from 90,000 to 100,000 pounds per square inch, 
and owing to the peculiar wear to which elevator cables are subject, it is 
extremely necessary to use caution as to the factor of safety. In the case 
of new cables, this should be from six to seven, and as the cables grow 
older, this factor should be gradually increased, but where the speed of the 
cables is excessive it is better practice to allow a factor of safety of from 
eight to ten. Frequently one or two of the lifting cables will crack or wear 
badly and the other cable remain in good condition. It will be found 
economy, instead of changing the inferior cable to change them all, for 
when the new and old cables are used together on one car, the old cable 
having had a full stretch and the new cable having had none, practically all 
the strain is on the old ones, this causing them soon to be in the same con- 
dition as tne ones just discarded. 

Lifting or counterweight cables must never be spliced under any circum- 
stances. All water and moisture should be kept away from the cables as 
the deterioration from rust or corrosion is very rapid. 

Some Excellent Rules for Elevator Operators. 

1. Always start and stop your elevator gradually. A sudden start or 
stop may throw the cables off the sheaves and subject the entire machine to 
severe stress and danger of accident. 

2. Never allow your elevator to be overloaded. When the car is com- 
fortably full, request the remaining persons to ride on the next elevator, and 
close your door. 

3. Always make sure that the passengers standing nearest the door, or 
opening of the car, are well within the car. 

4. Never start an elevator until the door on the landing is closed and 
latched, and do not open the door on a landing until you have brought the 
elevator to a full stop. 

5. If the hand-rope is too tight or too loose, report it at once to the 
engineer, who will adjust it properly. (The tension of the ropes changes 
with the condition of the atmosphere.) 

6. Be careful in running an elevator on the down motion. An in- 
creased load means increased speed, and the speed should be watched. 
Never try to show how fast the elevator can run on either up or down 
motion. 

7. If you are running an elevator that is operated by a lever or wheel, 
never reverse the lever or wheel without care. First bring the car to a full 
stop, then move your lever or wheel in the direction you desire to go. 

8. If for any reason the safety divice should operate and the car be- 
come pawled, don't touch the hand rope or try any experiments. Send for 
the engineer in charge. Meanwhile keep cool, and keep your passengers 
from attempting to get out, as that is very dangerous. 

9. Should your elevator, for any cause, refuse to go either up or down, 
bring the hand rope, lever, or wheel to the center and leave it there. Don't 
try any experiments, but send for an engineer. 

10. If you are running a belt elevator, be sure to pull the hand rope or 
hand chain as fast as possible on either motion. By doing so you throw the 
belt full on the tight pulley, and thus prevent it from slipping. In stopping, 
use the check rope. 

209 



11. If a belt elevator does not hold a load properly when it is stopped, 
report it to the engineer or person in charge. The brake requires adjusting, 
which is important. 

12. If you are running a steam elevator, be sure to center the hand 
rope or hand chain when stopping the car, and if the elevator creeps after 
it is stopped, report it at once. The brake requires adjusting, which is im- 
portant. 

13. If you have a large amount of merchandise to take upstairs, it is 
safer to make two loads of it than to attempt to carry it all in one load. 

14. If you are running an electric elevator, always center your hand 
rope, lever, or wheel, when stopping, for if you fail to do so you are liable 
to burn out parts of the starting box and motor. Electric elevators should 
never be overloaded, for the moment the load exceeds the lifting capacity, 
the fuse burns out, the elevator cannot be operated until a new fuse has 
been put in. 

Never use a piece of wire as a substitute for a safety fuse, for in such 
case you are bound to burn out the entire machine sooner or later. 

15. If there is anything about the elevator that does not appear to be 
just right, or if you hear any unusual noise in or about the machine, report 
it at once to the engineer or person in charge. If the engineer cannot de- 
termine what the difficulty is, he should telephone or send at once to the 
office so that the manufacturers may be communicated with and expert ad- 
vice secured. 




210 



Elevator Erection and Maintenance 

By J. A. Martin 

THE natural consequence of the advance in elevator construction, 
which had its beginning in the early '70s, and the steel skeleton con- 
struction of the modern building introduced about 1890, have altered 
the face of the greater cities of the world, especially those of America. It 
has produced the magnificent towering structures of today and has created 
three or four cities, one on top of the other, in all the greater business cen- 
ters of our land, and has placed in a single building the population of a 
town. 

When we consider the few accidents that occur, we have a convincing 
demonstration that the up-to-date elevator is the very safest vehicle of hu- 
man transportation. I have been unable to obtain any very complete fig- 
ures, but the following will serve as a comparison — being obtained from 
the New Yoi'k Times of December 31, 1911: "For the preceding year we 
find that the loss of life in the United States from elevators is given as 65, 
from automobiles 784, marine disasters 1817, and in mines 931. These 
statistics show that the loss of life in elevator accidents is exceptionally 
small." 

The cost of the operation of elevators varies greatly, governed as it is 
entirely by local conditions, so that any information in a general way would, 
no doubt, be very misleading, as there are so many variable items by which 
it can be affected. In the electric the cost will vary widely according to the 
service which is required from the elevators. Also, for the worm-gear trac- 
tion or the drum type machine the cost will vary with the type of current 
available; that is, whether it is alternating current, single or multi-phase, 
or direct current. You can appreciate that in a hotel where the loads are 
very light and where there are possibly only one or two stops made per trip, 
the service cannot in any way be compared to the conditions which would 
have to be met in a department store or large office building where the cars 
are usually loaded to their full capacity, and where stops are made at all 
floors. These conditions are probably the extreme limits of passenger 
service and the other types of buildings will come between them. Another 
condition which will affect the cost of operation is the question of whether 
the current is generated at the building or whether it is bought from a 
power company. If the current is generated at the building there are a num- 
ber of overhead charges which should be included, but which oftentimes are 
not figured in the cost of power. 

In the case of hydraulic equipment the variation is not dependent upon 
the conditions which govern in the electric elevator, but are more par- 
ticularly dependent upon the source of obtaining the power. The type of 
pump will make a large variation in the cost of power, owing to the varia- 
tion in efficiencies. The quality of the steam with the steam pump, the 
relative location of the pumps and boilers is very important, as the quality 
of the steam is materially affected. In some cases, in larger cities, the 
steam is obtained from the service mains of an outside company, and the 

211 



economy of the plant is largely dependent upon the location of the building 
with respect to the power plant. In some cases the exhaust steam from the 
pump is used for other purposes in the mechanical equipment, and this ar- 
rangement, of course, increases the efficiency of the mechanical plant. Fi'om 
this you can see that it is an extremely difficult thing to give any definite 
cost of operating per car mile for either the electric or hydraulic type of 
elevator. From the most authentic source, however, I have found that for 
these various types the cost will probably vary as follows: The gearless 
traction elevators, 5 to 20 cents per car mile; worm gear traction elevators, 
8 to 30 cents per car mile; hydraulic elevators, 8 cents and up, depending 
upon the many conditions which I have noted. 

The hydraulic elevator, up to within the last few years, has been the 
only type of elevator capable of handling heavy freight and passenger traffic. 
The first important installation of hydraulic elevators in America was in 
the Borell building, in New York City, in 1878. The elevators were of the 
vertical cylinder type and through their success indicated that in a short 
time the steam elevator, which had previously been used, would give way 
to the hydraulic, just as at the present time the hydraulics are giving way 
to the improved type of electric elevators. Up to 1890 there was no marked 
improvement in the hydraulic elevator except in detail of design and con- 
struction. At about this date the demand for increased speed compelled 
the abandonment of the hand rope control, and then the pilot valve and 
lever valves were introduced. The first wheel valve and pilot valve ever 
used were designed for and installed in the Eiffel tov/er at the Paris Exposi- 
tion in 1889, and shortly after similar but smaller pilot valves were installed 
in New York City. The substitution of the lever valve for the hand rope 
control introduced the use of the independent automatic stop, and then in- 
ternal sleeves attached to the piston were introduced, and these, while 
otherwise the most perfect form of automatic, were found to have a tend- 
ency to score the cylinder and were abandoned for external stops, which 
became generally used on all types of hydraulic elevator. 

About 1890 came the introduction of high pressure hydraulic systems, 
the pressure being 750 pounds. A number of plants of this character were 
installed in several of the larger buildings of that date. Among the more 
notable being as follows: The Supples block and The Bank of Commerce, 
St. Louis; the Brooklyn Sugar Refining Company, Brookljm; the Girard 
Trust Company and the Loan & Trust Company, Philadelphia; the Metropol- 
itan Life Insurance building. New York; the Prudential building, Newark, 
N. J.; the Oliver building, Pittsburg, and the Montgomery Ward building, 
Chicago. 

The direct plunger elevator, one of the earliest hydraulic types, was 
introduced and gained considerable popularity during the past few years. 
While for comparatively low rises and moderate speeds it has given satis- 
faction and is a very good type of construction that appeals to many, it has 
not, under the more trying conditions of high rises and higher speeds, 
proved to be as efficient as the geared types. The plunger elevator has been 
found to be easily operated, efficient and economical, both as regards main- 
tenance and repairs, but for structures of 200 feet and over in height they 
can hardly be said to be a success. 

It may be of interest to many to know that in the early days of elevator 
construction, the use of a counterbalance was the exception rather than the 
rule. It cannot be assumed that the saving in power through its use was 

212 



not realized at that time by the manufacturer, but it is possible that it was 
omitted principally on account of the cost. It was not long, however, until 
certain arrangements of counterbalance for various types of machines be- 
came standard. The horizontal hydraulic machines are provided with inde- 
pendent or car counterweights only, these weights being enough lighter than 
the car to enable the latter to descend empty at a proper speed. The usual 
amount of excess weight, for an ordinary size car, is approximately 500 
pounds. For large cars, and cases where there is considerable friction, the 
unbalanced weight may be 750 or 1,000 pounds. In general, these allow- 
ances have proved satisfactory for slow speed elevators. The vertical 
hydraulic machines are usually counterbalanced by weights in the cylinders 
and traveling sheave straps attached to the side of the moving parts of the 
machine. Ordinarily on installations where the cars are extremely heavy, 
independent car counterweights are provided. The car counterweight, how- 
ever, in such cases is not particularly desirable on high speed installations, 
for it is liable to cause an unpleasant jumping of the car when making a 
landing at full speed. It has been found that a very satisfactory control can 
be obtained where the counterweight is all in the strap and cylinder, and it 
is well to have a considerable amount of cylinder weight. 

It may also be interesting to know that during the four years preceding 
1912 no hydraulic elevators were placed in any of the large office buildings 
in New York, which is conclusive evidence that the hydraulic elevator is 
surely passing out of existence. 

As near as can be determined, the first direct application of electricity 
to elevator service was in 1887, when William Baxter of Jersey City de- 
signed and installed a direct connected machine at Baltimore, but it was 
not until 1889 that the first successful electric elevators were put into 
operation by the Otis Brothers Company, which installed two direct con- 
nected worm gear machines in the building of A. D. Demarest at 335 Fifth 
avenue, New York. These first machines and those built for a number of 
years after, were controlled by a hand cable. Through this beginning, con- 
ditions of operation and mechanism so rapidly changed and improved that 
soon electric elevators were not only used for express cars of heavy capacity 
in large commercial buildings, but for a wide range of service down to and 
including small passenger elevators for private dwellings. But none of 
these were able to meet the demands of high speed and the heights of 
travel desired for modern tower buildings until the introduction of the Otis 
electric traction machine, which was invented and installed in the Metropol- 
itan, Singer and "Woolworth buildings. In the Woolworth building the 
cars will travel a distance of six hundred and seventy-nine feet and six 
inches. The elevator equipment in the Metropolitan Life building, in New 
York, including the Metropolitan tower, is the largest elevator equipment 
in the world. This, however, is a varied one, being part electric and part 
hydraulic. For complete electric equipment, however, the Hudson Terminal 
building has the largest in the world. 

There are many points in the design, operation and maintenance of the 
gearless traction elevator which are superior to those of the hydraulic type 
and caused their present almost exclusive use for tall buildings. A few of 
these points are: First — The small space required for the location of the 
machines. This feature makes available room which formerly had to be 
given up for the power plant, but which is now available for rentable area. 
Second — The maintenance cost over a period of years for the traction ele* 

m 



vator has been found, as computed by the Otis Elevator Company, to be less 
than for the hydraulic elevator. The rapidity with which the traction type 
of elevator may be accelerated or stopped has made possible a schedule 
and an elevator service for the taller buildings, which could not have been 
obtained with any type of hydraulic equipment. 

As the new Woolworth building has, no doubt, the best equipment in 
the world, I will briefly describe same: The building is erected on Broad- 
way and Park place and is 55 stories in height, or a total of 750 feet. It is 
the tallest office building in the world, and some idea of its size will be ob- 
tained when it is realized that it has a floor space of 27 acres. The main 
building is 29 stories high, and the tov/er, which occupies the center of the 
Broadway front, 26 stories. 

All of the 2G elevators, with the exception of the shuttle tower eleva- 
tor, are to be of the Otis gearless traction type. The shuttle elevator, which 
is to rise from the 51st to the 54th floors, is of the electric drum type. There 
is also to be provided an electric push button elevator, which is for the 
exclusive use of the Irving National Bank, occuping the basement and the 
first four floors of the building. In connection with the elevator equipment 
of this building, a new system of regulating the service and of dispatching 
the elevators has been introduced. An isolated dispatcher's station has 
been provided and by means of a series of miniature lamps the dispatcher 
is able to follow the progress of the elevators throughout the building. 
These miniature lamps are shown upon a board, in banks corresponding to 
the elevators, and a lamp is provided to designate each floor. As the car 
passes the floor a corresponding light shows in the dispatcher's room. The 
dispatcher's room is in connection with the operators, both by means of a 
starting signal and also through a telephone. This telephone is so arranged 
that the dispatcher may communicate and carry on a conversation with the 
operator, or it can be thrown over so that the dispatcher may give orders 
to the operator and the operator cannot reply to the dispatcher. The orders 
are transmitted in the car through a megaphone. Many of these features 
have been used in connection with previous installations, but the handling 
of the elevator has never been attempted in the above manner. 

The speed of the high rise elevators for this building is 700 feet per 
minute. This speed had not previously been permitted by the building de- 
partment of New York, but on account of the service required of this type 
of building, it was found necessary to increase the speed limit and this 
is the first electric equipment in the city which has been designed and 
installed for operating at 700 feet per minute. In some previous cases 
hydraulic elevators have been installed for these high speeds, but this was 
previous to the restrictions passed by the building department. 

The term safety, as applied to elevator construction, refers to the va- 
rious devices attached to the car frame or sling in which the car proper is 
carried, and designed to stop it in event of an accident to the lifting cables, 
or excessive speed from any cause. They may be located either above or 
below the car, though the latter is now usually the position, except in 
places where no pit room is available. This position is preferable as the 
car frame is subject to less strain when the safety is operated. The 
original "safeties" out of numerous experiments have proved the breaking 
of the cables. Only a tew types of "safeties" out of numerous experiments 
have proven available and these have become standard. Those in use at 
the present time may be divided into two general classes: Those used with 

214 



wooden guides and those used with steel tees. Of the first class the gravity 
wedge is the oldest and was followed by the triple grip and the double grip. 
The Baldwin roll was the first used for steel tees. The toggle clamp was 
designed to meet the needs of increased speed and has been superceded 
by the wedge clamp. The wedge safety is the one now in general use on 
both hydraulic and electric machines where steel guides are used, being 
operated by a ball governor at the top of the hatchway and revolved by a 
small cable attached to the governor. These safeties may readily be 
equipped with emergency devices, by means of which the safety may be 
turned on by the operator, either by hand lever or hand wheel in the car, 
the hand wheel being the latest type. It does not necessarily depend upon 
the operator in case of danger, but should the speed for any occasion exceed 
the predetermined limit at which the governor is set, the latter trips and 
the clutches seize the governor rope, arresting it, and further movement of 
the car from this point pulls the governor rope through the governor sheave, 
producing a pull of several hundred pounds. This causes the safety jaws to 
maintain a powerful and steady grip on the rails, and they slide along, 
gradually becoming tighter until the car is brought to rest. The distance 
slid through, therefore, depends upon the total load on the safeties and the 
speed at which the car was moving when the governor tripped. It is this 
feature that makes this safety suitable for both heavy loads and high speeds. 
In addition to the above mentioned safeties, which depend largely on the 
speed of the car, there are a number of automatic devices so arranged as to 
slow down and finally bring the car to rest at the limit of travel either at 
the upper or lower landing. They are so perfect and positive in their oper- 
ation that a great many operators rely on the automatic stops at the ter- 
minals. This is a very poor policy, and should be avoided as much as pos- 
sible. Apparently the safeguards on the elevators of today are about all 
that could be asked for, but, no doubt, future developments will bring out 
other types far superior to those now in use. 

The provision of elevators for a large building is an important problem 
for the owner and his engineers, as the conditions of traffic must be care- 
fully studied. It is, of course, obvious that to make an office building, store 
or hotel successful, there must be adequate elevator service, so that tenants 
on the upper floors will be as well served as those below and an important 
factor is that no matter how high the building, rental conditions demand 
that the time from the ground floor to any floor does not exceed one minute. 
Therefore it is necessary in the case of a large building, where there are 
many tenants, to maintain local and express service, the latter not making 
any stops between the ground and some designated floor, such as the ninth 
or tenth floor. If the building is very high, express service for floors beyond 
the sixteenth or twentieth floor may be maintained by some of the cars, 
and in excessive cases to even a higher point. It was once believed that the 
number of elevators in the building should be based upon the number of 
square feet of rental area, but today the problem is more complex and ele- 
vator engineers have not only to figure on the number of floors and their 
area, but on the character of the tenancy. There must be enough cars to 
give ample service, both for the comfort and convenience of the tenants 
and for safety and economy. What is more, a regular schedule service must 
be maintained. It has been computed that the best service and greatest 
economy are secured where the number of cars are so proportioned that 
with the usual average trafiic, stops should be made at .4 of the number of 

215 



landings and that each car run with .4 of the maximum load, but conditions 
of operation are no less important than those of design. The success of the 
system depends upon the regular movement of the cars, and in many of the 
larger buildings traffic managers and engineers are in direct communication 
with each other. 

The elevator operator's position is also one of constantly increasing Im- 
portance, for the longer rise and higher speeds not only require greater 
skill in making the landings, but as the ingress and egress of passengers is 
the largest item of time consumed, this movement must be expedited as 
much as possible. The success of the system also depends upon the class 
of operators employed. Therefore, it is necessary to secure intelligent 
operators, placing them directly responsible to the traffic manager. 

In addition to these, a great responsibility is placed on the engineer, 
whose duty it is to see the cars, safeties, and all appliances are kept in 
proper working condition, and it is absolutely necessary that the best pos- 
sible man obtainable be employed for this position. 

In the Old National Bank building, of Spokane, we have four of the 
gearless traction elevators and one combination freight and passenger ele- 
vator of the geared type being operated as follows: 

Car No. 1 is put into service at 7:15 a. m., running continuously until 
5:45 p. m., six days per week, being a local car, making any and all stops 
from first to ninth floors, a distance of 112 feet 4 inches, with an average of 
16.18 miles per day. 

Car No. 2 starts at 7:45 a. m., running continuously until 6 p. m., under 
the same conditions as No. 1, making an average of 16.64 miles per day. 

Car No. 3 is in continuous service during the entire day of twenty-four 
hours, every day in the year, except a few minutes for cleaning and adjust- 
ing, running as express with no stops between the first and eighth floors, but 
local from the eighth to and including the fourteenth floor, a total of 174 feet 
5 inches, from 8:15 a. m. to 5:15 p. m., the remainder of the twenty-four 
hours as local, serving all floors, making an average of 31.41 miles per day. 

Car No. 4 starts at 7:45 a. m., continuous service until 6:15 p. m., as 
express from first to eighth floors, being local eighth to and including four- 
teenth floor, a total of 174 feet 5 incnes, making an average daily mileage 
of 26.57. All cars — 1, 2, 3 and 4 — have a speed of 600 feet per minute. 

Car No. 5 is used for both passenger and freight service and is in service 
twenty-four hours per day, except for cleaning and adjusting as necessary. 
It travels from sub-basement to fifteenth floor, 212 feet 10 inches at 400 feet 
speed, making a daily average of 18.57 miles. Therefore, we have a total 
daily travel of the flve cars of 108.97 miles, handling 14,000 passengers daily, 
six days per week, and about 1,000 passengers on Sunday, with a total of 
2,984.51 car miles for the month of June, 1912, at a power cost of 7.5 cents 
per mile. 

A factor in the operation of elevators where power is transmitted by 
central station is the continuity of service. For instance: In Spokane we 
are able to derive power from four separate and distinct sources from as 
many power plants operated by the same company. Interruption of service 
with us is practically eliminated. This power is obtained from the Spokane 
river, which passes through the heart of the city. In its 120 miles of travel 
this river has a fall of 1,200 feet and in its course is utilized for power 
development at five separate places, namely: Post Falls, 20 miles distant, 
25,000 horsepower; in the heart of Spokane, 10,000 horsepower (possibly 

216 



30,000 horsepower); Little Falls, 40 miles distant, 37,000 horsepower; Nine- 
mile, about nine miles distant, 10,000 horsepower. In addition to the fore- 
going, construction on a new power plant has been started at Long Lake, 
about 29 miles distant, which will have a fall of about 170 feet and is to put 
into service from this single station when completed in about two years the 
enormous energy of 70,000 horsepower. Thus we will have in service, on 
completion of this new plant, immediately tributary to Spokane, 182,000 
horsepower. 

The combined rate for light and power furnished our building by the 
Washington Water Power Company is .024 cents per kilowatt hour, a very 
low rate when considering that slack coal laid down in our bin runs on an 
average $5.25 per ton. 



217 



Elevator Service, Signals and Accessories 

B)^ Henry C. Tulley 

THE elevatQi- service is a feature of the building which must be care- 
fully looked after. There is nothing in the makeup of an ofllee 
building, loft building or apartment house that has more to do with 
keeping it full of tenants than the elevator service. 

While the structural and mechanical feature, as far as proportion and 
strength of materials is concerned, is well nigh perfect, the important func- 
tion of operating the mechanism is entirely dependent on the judgment of 
the man in charge. If he is a careful, cool-headed man who always does 
the right thing at the right time, accidents will be few. Right here I want 
to impress on every manager to be careful in selecting elevator operators, 
and after he gets a good crew try and keep them. 

It must be admitted that elevator operators, like other human beings, 
have their off days. The days when they have headaches and other slight 
illnesses which dull the senses and give birth to carelessness. So it is 
necessary to have a watch on them all the time to prevent them from be- 
coming careless. 

It is surprising how elevator service can be improved by judicious study. 
The first thing in the way of good elevator service is to get a good crew of 
operators, and if you have three or more elevators it is wise to have a 
starter. The next thing is to have them nicely uniformed and see that they 
keep them neat and clean. The operators are required at all times to pre- 
sent a neat and clean appearance. The care exercised in this regard causes 
them to have a military appearance that is attractive, and with their cheery 
greetings they seem to make a good impression on the tenants. There is 
one thing I impress on the operator when I employ him and that is, he must 
be considerate and polite to all, and, most of all, practice self-control. 

I do not permit the operators to have chairs or a seat of any kind nor 
to smoke or talk to anyone only as far as to answer questions, that is, to 
tenants and those seeking tenants, and then in a gentlemanly way. I in- 
struct the operator, in case of any accident, to report to the starter imme- 
diately and then to me, then forget about it and not to talk to tenants or 
anyone about it. 

I find by closely watching a new operator that he tries to introduce some 
apparent gain of time upon the average conditions. But it must be pointed 
out that elements of danger are introduced where time is cut to premature 
opening and closing of gates and premature starting of cars. Such practice, 
indeed, often fails entirely of its purpose, being accompanied by much over- 
running and returning to landings, and unless all operators in a row of 
elevators are equal in the performance of their cars, the cars get out of 
schedule and such time as may be gained by one car is lost in waiting at 
the starting floor for the others. 

It is not necessary to do more than refer in a general way to the wide 
variety of characteristics in that large proportion of the general business 
population which utilizes the convenience of elevators. Every temperament 

218 



and condition, all ages and both sexes, are included and upon the movement 
of the average of all, in and out of cars, depends the effectiveness of the 
elevator to a considerable degree. 

The time occupied at each landing is dependent upon the co-operation 
of the operator and the passengers. The period which must be taken to rep- 
resent average conditions is therefore not the minimum time which may be 
expected, but rather such as will afford reasonable time for deliberate action 
on the part of the average passenger. 

The operation of a passenger elevator consists of a series of trips and 
rests in which the car travels from its starting or ground floor station to its 
upper or top floor station, with intervals of rest, returning in the same 
manner to the starting point, there being detained while the passengers who 
have been brought down make their exit and others take their place for a 
new ascent. 

Each trip should be made in regular schedule time, that is, allow a cer- 
tain time for each car to make a round trip. I have found by careful watch- 
ing and timing the elevators, they will make in the Wainwright building, 
which is ten stories high, a round trip in two minutes per car. That gives 
us an elevator at the ground floor, one at the top floor, and a car going up 
and one coming down at the fifth floor. The time occupied by each round 
trip results from two elements. The ability and judgment of the operator, and 
consideration is equally required in this connection for the time consumed 
by the movement of the operators in opening and closing gates. The second 
and largest time element in the operation of the elevator is that in which 
the public is concerned. In the control of the car and the delay by ingress 
and egress of the passengers, it will be readily noticeable by any observer 
that the characteristics affecting the time occupied in movement makes the 
latter a variable quantity with the operator as well as with the passengers. 
Operators vary as to the time consum3d, not only in the physical operation 
of gate stations, but in mental preparation for action, with the adjustment 
of action to distance, such as moving the power control in advance of a land- 
ing as well as in their alertness upon receipt of signals and their attention 
to passengers' requests. Such variations are reduced by training and expe- 
rience. I have come to appreciate the loss resulting from overrunning and 
returning to landings and the dangers due to inexact landings. This im- 
portant relation of elevator service to the success of all buildings renders 
it very desirable to determine the proper schedule. The schedule will be 
that which will result from the pioportionate number of elevators divided 
into the average time consumed by each elevator. In my opinion an ideal 
method of running a bank of elevators is similar to that of running a system 
of trolley cars, that is, to send them away from the starting point under an 
exact schedule. The exact interval of starting varies, of course, in the dif- 
ferent buildings. 

Owners and managers of buildings should use every means possible to 
keep their elevators in first-class condition. Elevator accidents have ruined 
many good buildings. The safety of an elevator is seldom questioned by the 
people using it, as it is there to be used and one has the right to assume 
that it is safe. The public demand and are invited to use it, and its con- 
venience is held out as an inducement for patronage, so it is up to the man- 
ager to see that his elevators are safe. The best way to have safe elevators 
is, first, to have a good engineer, and if you haven't a good engineer, get one, 

219 



and give him complete charge of elevators and operators and hold him re- 
sponsible for the care of elevators and their safety. Impress upon his mind 
that the success of the building depends on good elevator service, and in 
order to give good service he should subject every part of the elevator to 
the most rigid examination every night. After this has been done every 
possible precaution should be exercised to avoid accidents. In my opinion 
the best way to get good service is to send for your engineer, question him 
and see if he has the qualifications for such a position. He should have a 
thorough knowledge of elevator construction and operating machinery, boil- 
ers, engines, electricity and pumps as well as the care and handling of men. 
After having a talk with your engineer and you have made upon your mind 
that he is the man you want, I would say, "Jim, I want to have a little con- 
fidential talk with you. Are you aware that there is an immense respon- 
sibility resting on both our shoulders? The lives of all persons who take 
passage in our elevators are intrusted to and are under our care, and we 
should discharge such trust faithfully and conscientiously by attending to 
everything pertaining to the elevators. The success of this building de- 
pends on good elevator service, and I am going to give you complete charge 
of all elevator machinery and operators and I will give you every aid pos- 
sible, so it is up to you to be constantly on the job. It is necessary to look 
after every part of the mechanism every day; begin at the roof and go 
down to the basement, examine the cables; if there are any broken wires con- 
demn them, take no chances. Don't try to get a few more weeks' wear out 
of them." 

The life of the cables depends a great deal on the care given them. 
Cables last in the Wainwright building from three and a half to four years 
on hydraulic horizontal elevators, geared 12 to 1. 

As it is the earnest wish of the management to make the service the 
best possible, the strict observance of these rules will greatly help to attain 
that end. 

Rules for the Engineer. 

1. Have the elevators ready to start at the appointed time. 

2. See that all lights are lit. 

3. See that the speed controller is in good condition. 

4. See that automatic stops are in good condition. 

5. Keep the cables well lubricated. 

6. Allow no one to go under a car or work under one unless you have 
a brace or a bolt in the guides so the car cannot come down. 

7. Examine the counter weight cables and guide strips and keep them 
well lubricated. 

8. See that all doors and hatchways are in good order and that all 
doors lock. 

9. See that all oil and grease cups are filled every morning. 

10. See that every portion of the shifting apparatus is in good working 
order. 

11. If electric machine, never work around them except when stand- 
ing on a rubber mat. 

12. See that there is no grounds on any part of the wiring or machine. 

13. See that no one works in any part of the hatchways unless a man 
is put in charge of that elevator, and instruct him not to run the elevator 

220 



until the party gets out of the hatchway, or see that the elevator is shut 
down and cannot be started. 

14. If the governor becomes out of order shut that car down until it is 
fixed. 

15. If hydraulic elevators, watch every pipe leading to the sewer so 
you won't have water constantly running in the sewer. 

16. See that no water leaks on the cables. 

17. Watch the starting device, examine it every day. There is nothing 
that will scare a person quicker than to see the operator try to stop a car 
and find it won't stop because some little thing needs adjustment in connec- 
tion with the starting device. A key might have dropped out of the seat. 
There are many things that need to De looked after every day. The same 
with the electric machine — it must be looked after every day. 

18. Instruct the starter to test the automatic on each car every day, by 
having the car under a fair speed and let it stop on the automatic and report 
to the engineer if he finds anything wrong. This is very important and it is 
up to the engineer to see that it is done. 

19. The starter should report to the engineer every night the working 
condition of each car. 

20. See that the cars are always kept clean and all the brass work 
polished. 

Rules for the Operators. 

1. Don't allow your car to be overloaded. 

2. Report all doors, door locks and anything in the hatchway that is 
out of order to the engineer. 

3. See that doors are closed before starting your car. 

4. Avoid overcrowding cars. 

5. Keep passengers clear of gates and operating lever. 

6. Uniforms are to be worn at all times when on duty. 

7. Do not loiter around the lobby, entrance or stairways. 

8. Personal neatness, cleanliness, courtesy and politeness will do much 
to improve the service. 

9. Look out for peddlers, beggars and suspicious characters and report 
them to the starter. 

If these rules are carried out, every manager or owner of a building 
will have peace of mind in regard to the safety of the elevators. 

Lubricating of Elevator Guides and Other Bearings Around Elevators. 

f 
External lubrication is a very easy thing if the lubricant is applied to 

and evenly on the rubbing surface. The best thing, then, is to install an 
automatic lubricator. It lubricates the guides better and eliminates the 
danger and expense of doing the work by hand. It requires no attention be- 
yond filling the cups about once a month. It effects a saving by doing auto- 
matically what was formerly done by hand. It does away with the danger- 
ous method of swabbing the guides by hand. It keeps the hatchways clean 
and prevents the dropping of oil or grease into the car. With automatic 
lubrication the accumulation of grease and dirt is impossible. And anything 
that saves work and friction is a good thing to have. 

Another good thing to have on an elevator is the Illuminated threshold, 
as a great many accidents are due to passengers stumbling on the threshold 

221 



when entering the car. The illuminated threshold calls the attention of the 
passenger to the position of the elevator platform in relation to the floor 
landings by thoroughly illuminating them. The illumination of the threshold 
also serves as a warning to passengers not to stand too close to the car 
entrance; this prevents numerous accidents. 

Elevators should be free from reading matter, mirrors or any other 
attraction that tends to direct a passenger's mind from the more serious 
business of the moment, viz., watching for his floor and getting off when it 
is reached. The theory is, it takes so slight a suggestion to start a person's 
mind to wandering and one is likely to come to just as the gate is closing, 
and the usual dive for the door when the car is starting has been known to 
result disastrously. 

Another very important adjunct to economical and efficient service is 
the automatic starting device by means of which a bell is run at exact in- 
tervals to notify the elevator to start. Through this device It is possible to 
run the cars on an exact interval of headway. 

Elevator Travel Recorder. — The combination travel and trip recorder 
gives two distinct readings: one, the actual number of feet of movement of 
the elevator in either direction, and the other reading the number of com- 
plete trips made. 

With this information at hand it is possible to reduce the cost of ele- 
vator operation to a basis of car mile travel. Without the travel recorder 
it is impossible to say how much actual service has been returned by the 
power consumed. 

On hydraulic elevators the readings of the travel recorder may be re- 
duced to cubic feet or gallons of water used and the readings given by the 
recorder are considerably more accurate than those of a water meter. 

By means of the combination of the readings of travel and complete trips 
made, it is also possible to cheek up each individual operator in that the 
recorder gives information by means of which can be told the exact number 
of feet each operator wastes in making inaccurate stops; thus, if the round 
trip of the elevator is 200 feet and at the end of the day the trip recorder 
showed 100 trips, this car should have traveled 20,000 feet; if, on the other 
hand, the travel recorder showed that the car actually traveled 22,500 feet, 
it has indicated that the operator wasted 2,500 feet of travel by making in- 
accurate stops. 

Signals.— With the advent of the tall office building and higher speed 
elevators, the necessity of an eflicient elevator signal was immediately felt. 
The speed of the elevator would have detracted rather than added to the 
efficiency of the service if there were no accurate means of signaling the 
operators. 

As the buildings became larger and the number of elevators in one 
group increased, it became equally important to promptly advise the waiting 
passenger which elevator would arrive first so that he might have ample 
time in which to get to that particular hatchway to meet the elevator and 
thus avoid delay. 

It soon became apparent, therefore, that the ideal Elevator Signal Sys- 
tem for office buildings must include two basic features. It must notify 
the operator of the first approaching elevator to stop at the floor from which 
the passenger had signaled, giving this notice in plain, decisive manner 
without taking his attention from his duties; also it must tell the waiting 
passenger which of the cars would arrive first, giving this notice without 
burdening him with the necessity of studying a number of indicators. 

222 



In the Wainwright building I have the Armstrong System installed. It 
signals the operators to stop by the flash of one lamp, which he can see 
whether or not he is looking in its direction. Similarly this system signals 
a passenger by the flash of one lamp, which attracts his attention rather than 
calling upon him to look for it. 

Aside from the fact that an elevator signal is a necessity if traffic is to 
be handled eflSciently, the distinct economy it effects in operating expenses 
removes it from that class of equipment which merely adds to the service 
without saving money. The equipment of a bank of three elevators with 
the proper signal system gives considerably better results than you would 
be able to get without the system. 

Unless an operator receives sufficient notice to stop he will naturally 
run past the floor a few feet, enough power will be wasted by the extra 
stop or reversal to run the car several feet. It is very apparent, therefore, 
that a signal which eliminates the unnecessary "stop" or reversal would 
soon pay for itself. 

An observation under actual working conditions of the most economical 
type of electric elevators shows the following: 

Starting current 190 amperes 

Running current 30 amperes 

Running current, per mile, no stops 1.25 K. W. H. 

Running current, per mile, stops every three floors 5.25 K. W. H, 

Stops consuming 75 percent of total current. 

It was also found that the amount of power consumed in one stop would 
run the elevator 42 feet. 

A complete electric signal system gives a positive indication to both the 
waiting passenger and the operator, before the car reaches the floor. It is 
only necessary for the passenger to push the up or down button as the case 
may be. This sets the signal so that the first car approaching automatically 
lights the up or down signal lantern above the elevator door. This signal is 
usually set to light when the car is within three floors of the waiting passen- 
ger, although the distance can be varied according to the speed of the ele- 
vator. When the car is within a distance of from one to one and a half 
floors from the passenger, the operator's signal in the car is illuminated, thus 
giving ample time in which to stop nis car without running past the landing. 
The lamps in both the lantern and the car remain lighted until the car passes 
the floor from which the signal was given, when they are automatically 
extinguished. Should the first car receiving the signal be fully loaded the 
operator transfers the signal to the next car by pushing the transfer button 
in his car. 

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the system is entirely 
automatic, allowing the operator the free use of his hands for the control of 
his car, thus adding to the safety of the passengers. 

In connection with installations of more than two elevators, mechanical 
or other types of indicating devices where used alone are annoying and cause 
frequent unsuccessful trips to the various elevator doors. This annoyance 
is particularly noticeable when the cars run at high speed and on a limited 
schedule, as is required for good service in high office buildings. 

The signal obviates these difficulties, as it only communicates with the 
nearest up or down car approaching the landing and the signal shows plainly 

223 



which of the cars is approaching. The passenger is thus prepared to step 
into the car as soon as the door is opened. 

Furthermore, the operator being signaled is able to run at high speed 
between floors and is enabled to stop at any floor without loss of time, and 
without the strain on the machinery caused by quick reversals. 

At each floor it is only necpssary to have one plate. There are various 
styles of these plates. 

On the elevator enclosure over each door is mounted an ornamental 
fixture having two globes. In each upper globe is a white incandescent lamp, 
which, when lit, indicates the upward movement of the car approaching 
the landing. Each lower globe contains a red lamp, which, when lighted, 
indicates the downward movement of the car approaching the landing. In a 
prominent position in the car and in view of the operator is mounted an 
ornamental fixture containing a ruby lamp, which, when lighted, indicates 
to the operator that the car is approaching a landing on which a passenger is 
waiting. 

When mechanical indicators have been installed, or in small oflace build- 
ings having from one to three elevators which run on a regular schedule, the 
cost of the signaling may be reduced by using the operator's signal only. 

This system is the same as a complete signal except that no lamps for 
the waiting passengers are used. With the signal system it is not necessary 
to have mechanical indicators at each floor; but in buildings where three or 
more elevators are installed, mechanical indicators on the elevator inclosure 
at the ground floor are of great value, as they indicate to the starter the exact 
position of each car, and thus enable him to properly regulate the service. 
It is frequently desirable that the starter be able to signal any car after it 
has left the ground floor. For this purpose there is a device consisting of a 
set of push buttons, each connected with a buzzer in the respective cars. 

The push buttons are mounted in an ornamental plate on the first floor 
and convenient to the starter, so that he starts the cars from the top or bot- 
tom or signals to the operator at any point. In connection with the signals 
and ground floor indicators this system insures perfect elevator service, as it 
places all the cars under the complete control of the starter. As previously 
noted, the value of a good signal system cannot be overestimated. Expe- 
rience has shown that the installation of the signal system has in many cases 
helped a manager to fill his vacant offices and made a difference between a 
poor service and a highly satisfactory one to the tenants. It is a conservative 
claim that with signals it is possible to handle a given traffic with 15 percent 
less number of elevators than would be required if no signals are used. Sig- 
nals are especially effective with high speed elevators, making possible great 
saving in cost of repairs to the plant, because quick reversals always made 
by operators when not signaled in advance are very hard on elevator ma- 
chinery and are also a frequent cause of accidents. The avoidance of running 
past floors also effects a material saving in amount of power required to 
operate the elevator service, where electric elevators are used. 

The economy guaranteed in the cost of power will in Itself pay for the 
entire cost of signals within a limited period of time, depending upon the 
number of elevators and the frequency of the service. It is a conservative 
statement to say that perfection of complete signal system has made possible 
the economical and satisfactory operation of high-speed elevator service. 
The principal advantages of signals can be summarized as follows: 

224 



1. Increased efficiency of the elevator plant. Insuring satisfaction to the 
tenants and the building owner. 

2. Saving In wear and tear on machinery. This has been proven many 
times by comparing the bills for repairs before and after the installation of 
the signal system. 

3. Saving in cost of operation by reason of the reduction in the number 
of reversals due to stopping and starting after running past landings. 

Express Service. — In applying an express service to a building of great 
height it is evident that the efficiency of that service as regards time occupied 
in travel may be arranged so as to affect beneficially the upper or more re- 
mote portion. Increase in height places the upper portion of a building at 
a disadvantage as regards access and the importance of adequate travel to 
that part becomes greater. Express service, therefore, comes into existence, 
in order to afford means of reaching the upper floors with the same oppor- 
tunity as lower floors. Take, for instance, a building eighteen stories high 
in which service of elevators is established. The time occupied in 
carrying a passenger to and from the top floor is three minutes. The tenants 
on the lower floors would get in and out of their offices in much less time 
than the tenants on the upper floors, so we must give the same convenience 
and time to the upper floors. A schedule, or time interval, therefore, must be 
worked out and established, or, in other words, the same number of elevators 
must be provided for each section, so in order to give the upper floor tenants 
the same service we will have to give the upper floor tenants what is called 
express service. An express elevator is one where the first landing at which 
it stops is removed a number of floors above the ground floor. The distance 
from the ground floor must be worked out by the party in charge of the 
elevators. It is interesting to ascertain just where to divide the local from 
the express service. The flrst and natural suggestion is to effect the division 
at the ninth floor. By a division at the ninth floor you have practically equal 
service. 

By adopting, therefore, that division you will nearly produce a balance 
in time service and these two sections of the building will receive an equal 
amount of convenience and the upper floors will be brought as near the 
ground as the lower floors. 

The express service should be operated as a unit entirely separate from 
local service, with a relay of one local express. 

With the exception of this one local express relay, cars should not run 
express today and local' tomorrow, as this is confusing and impedes traffic. 
On floors where express cars do not stop it is a good plan to have the fronts 
closed, that is, partitioned, as nothing is more exasperating, if one is not 
familiar with the building, than to stand on a non-express floor and have cars 
pass you. 

As there may be some managers here that have buildings with electric 
elevators that are not large enough to employ engineers and have had no 
experience themselves with electric elevators, will say a few words on the 
care of the electric machine. 

Whenever the attendant wishes to handle the machine to clean, adjust, 
repair or oil it, he should see that the current is shut off at the switch, and 
thus prevent all possibility of accident. 

Cleaning. — Keep the entire machine clean. Clean the commutator and 
other contacts and brush carefully with a clean cloth and keep them free 
from grease and dirt. If the face of the rheostat on which the rheostat arm 

225 



brushes work becomes burnt clean with a piece of fine sandpaper (No. 0), or 
if necessary use a fine file. Keep all contacts smooth. Try the rheostat 
arm when cleaning to be sure that it moves freely off contacts. 

Oiling. — Oil the drum shaft bearings with good heavy oil. Oil the worm 
and gear by filling the chamber around them with a mixture of one part good 
cylinder and two parts of good castor oil. Keep this chamber filled to the 
top of the worm or mark on gauge glass, adding a little each day as it is 
used. The end thrust bearings are automatically oiled from this chamber. 
This should be drawn off every two or three months and replaced by fresh 
oil. Oil the motor bearings with dynamo oil. These are automatically oiled, 
but should occasionally be supplied with fresh oil. Lubricate the commuta- 
tor, rheostat face, drum switch and contacts very sparingly with a clean cloth 
moistened with oil. Care should be taken not to supply too much oil to these 
parts. Keep the oil dash-pot, if any, sufiiciently filled with oil to allow the 
rheostat arm to move quickly on the first contact and to retard this move- 
ment beyond this contact. The best oil for this purpose is fish oil, or some 
other thin oil that is not readily affected by changes in temperature. If an 
air dash-pot is used, keep it slightly oiled so as to keep the packing soft. 
Keep all parts of the elevator, including sheaves, cables, guides, etc., clean 
and well oiled. 

Operating. — Before the current is switched to the machine be sure that 
the operating lever is in its central position. To ascend draw the lever the 
full throw to the up. To descend, draw the lever the full throw to the down. 
To run slow speed bring the lever toward the center according to the speed 
desired. To stop, bring lever to slow speed when within four feet of landing 
and to its central position when close to it. In this way the operator can 
make accurate stops. When starting machines on which the solenoid is used 
if the current is admitted too rapidly, thereby starting with a jerk, or momen- 
tarily dimming the lights on the circuit, check the speed with which the 
resistance is cut out of the armature circuit by slightly easing off the weight, 
which acts in opposition to the core of the small solenoid. The solenoid 
controls a valve in the dash-pot and thereby regulates its speed in proportion 
to the current passing. 

If a governor starter is used and the current is admitted too rapidly, 
tighten the governor spring on the armature shaft, or close the vent in the 
air dash-pot. If the car refuses to ascend with a heavy load, immediately 
throw the lever to the center and reduce your load, as in all probability it is 
greater than the capacity of the elevator. If it refuses to ascend with a 
light load, throw the lever to the center and examine safeties, fusible strip 
and machine, and before starting be sure that the cables have not jumped 
from their right grooves. If the car refuses to move in either direction, 
throw the lever to the center and have the fusible strip examined. Never 
leave the car without throwing the lever to the center. If the car should be 
stalled between floors it can be raised or lowered by lifting the brake and 
running it by turning the brake wheel by hand. 

Such a stoppage might be caused by the current being shut off at the 
station, undue friction in the machine, too heavy a load, fuses burnt out, or 
a bad contact of the switches, binding posts or electrical connections. If the 
car by any derangement of the switch cannot be stopped, let it make its full 
trip, as the automatic stop will take care of it at either end of travel. The 
bearings should be examined occasionally to insure no heating and proper 
lubrication. 

226 



General Directions. — Have the machine examined occasionally by some 
one well posted in electric motors and elevators. The attendant should 
inspect the machine often. All brushes and switches should be suflSciently 
tight to give good contact, but no tighter. None of the brushes should spark 
when in their normal position. When the brushes become burnt, dress with 
sandpaper or file, or if necessary replace with new ones. If brushes spark 
dress with sandpaper or file to a good bearing, and if necessary set up 
springs, but do not make the tension such as to interfere with their ready 
movement. Adjust commutator brushes gradually for least sparking. These 
should be close to the central position. 

Contacts and brushes should be kept clean and smooth and lubricated 
sparingly. While replacing a fusible strip, be sure the main switch is open, 
and be careful not to touch the other wire with your tool or otherwise, as 
such contact would be dangerous. Never put in a larger fuse than the one 
burnt out. Inspect the worm and gear through the hand hole in the casing 
occasionally, to see that they are well lubricated and that no grit gets in the 
oil. They should show no wear. The stuffing box on the worm shaft should 
be only tight enough to keep the oil from leaking out of the worm chamber. 
Be sure that all parts are properly lubricated. To make sure that the car and 
machinery run freely, lift the brake lever and then rotate worm shaft by 
pulling on the brake wheel. The empty car should ascend without exertion. 
Keep operating cables properly adjusted. Open switch when elevator is not 
in service. 

A Word on Elevator Installation. — The elevator in a modern building is 
a matter of great importance. By judicious selection of elevators those ade- 
quate to the traffic of the buildings are easy to install. This is a question for 
the purchaser to look into. My advice on this matter is: 

1. To get the simplest in mechanical design. 

2. The safest elevator made. 

3. The most noiseless in operation. 

4. The one controlled with ease and certainty. 

5. The most economical elevator made. 

6. The one possessing the highest mechanical eflSciency. 

7. The one easily and quickly adjusted. 

8. The one that is massive and solid in construction. 

9. The most durable elevator manufactured. 

10. See that the grille work on the front of the shafts is made ornate 
without recourse to curves and angles. Simple straight lines with an absence 
of dust pockets can be made very ornate. 

11. Do not have your gates, if hand operated, weigh more than 120 
pounds, and if mechanically operated they should be as simple in construc- 
tion as possible. The car gates should interlock with the floor gate, at the 
same time locking the car controller, so that the power cannot be put on 
while the gates are open. This may seem too fine a precaution of safety, 
but after watching the actions of some operators and an equally foolhardy 
public, one cannot help concluding that too many precautions cannot be 
taken. As to the car itself, the top should be so constructed that dust and 
dirt cannot drop through and ruin the clothes of the passengers. A solid 
flat top presents an excellent working platform for mechanics, cleaners, etc. 
The s-des and rear of cars should be paneled to a height of about four feet 
to prevent to a great extent the poking of umbrellas and canes and the 

227 



throwing of paper, lighted matches, cigar stubs, etc., through the grille work. 
An interlocking tile either of cork or rubber composition makes one of the 
best elevator floors, being neat, sanitary and easily cleaned. The car should 
be broad rather than deep, having a wide opening for entrance and exit. 
The main floor gate should open to the full width of the car gate. 



228 



PART IX 



Lighting 



The Lighting Problem 

By J. J. Forbrich 

THE use of artificial light dates back to prehistoric times. It has been 
developed along with our civilization, and it, in turn, has been one of 
the most important civilizing agents man has ever devised. 
The improvement of methods of artificial lighting has ever been a prob- 
lem under consideration, and to this day there has been no greater Interest 
to mankind than the artificial production of light — no branch of science or 
engineering that has had a more profound effect upon man's mode of life 
than lighting and illumination. To realize this we have only to consider 
what would be the effect on modern life if we had to give up all modern 
illumination and revert to the torch, the rushlight and the tallow dip of our 
forefathers. 

At times great advances in the development of methods have been made, 
which form marking stones in the history of the art, and at times this devel- 
opment has lagged, and then again some discovery or invention has carried 
it rapidly a long way ahead. Thus, the old open wick lamp of the ancients 
was improved but little until Argand's invention of the burner which bears 
his name, and the use of this with a chimney. Other marking stones have 
been the introduction of sperm oil, afterwards to be replaced by petroleum, 
and that in turn by illuminating gas, and later the use of electricity in its 
various forms, which, for convenience, may include acetylene, this being, in 
a sense, a secondary use of electrical energy. 

The rise of illumination to a v/ell defined art is a thing of recent years. 
It is, in fact, linked with the later development of electric lighting in a way 
that in part, at least, accounts for the popular error of considering illuminat- 
ing engineering as a branch of electrical engineering. 

Among the electrical appliances also there are stepping stones marking 
the progress of the art. Thus, first comes the invention of the arc lamp; 
next the Invention of the incandescent conductor, to be followed by the 
incandescent non-conductor and the incandescent vapor. Illuminants of all 
these various types are in use today. 

The modern science of supplying light has added four to six hours to 
the average day, thereby lengthening the allotted span of life by from thirty 
to fifty percent, for light is life and darkness means sleep or death. 

To the average person good illumination means great brilliancy, but the 
fundamental principle of good artificial illumination is the proper distribution 
of light, keeping the illuminaton of objects as strong as necessary for their 
intended use, and at the same time keeping the brilliancy or intensity of the 
light as low as possible. 

By intensity is meant the volume of light coming from each square inch 
of surface on the light-giving source, which, in electric lights, is the filament. 
A diffusing globe put about the lamp has the effect of increasing the area of 
the radiating surface for the same amount of light, or, as it were, spreading 
the light out over more surface with less intensity at any point than the 
original area or filament had. The amount of light lost in passing through 

231 



this glass is so small that the total amount obtained is but little less than 
that from the bare lamp. 

The subject of lighting cannot be separated from that of the human eye. 
It is a commonly known fact that the physiological effect of intense or over- 
brilliant light on the eye is very harmful; that it is about equally harmful 
to strain the eyes constantly to do close work in a dim light, or to do the 
same work in a constantly changing, uneven light. We know that while we 
see best by the light of the sun, we cannot endure the direct rays of the sun 
in our eyes. 

Try to read a paper near an unshaded forty watt lamp hung low. To see 
the paper, some of the light must be reflected from it to the eye, and so it is, 
and if the eye were free to adjust the opening of the pupil to the intensity 
of that reflected light alone, it would see the paper clearly, but the direct rays 
of the light also enter the eye, causing the pupil to contract to such an extent 
as to prevent suflBcient light reflected from the paper entering the eye. We 
have then the painful and harmful effect of straining the eye to see and at 
the same time suffering a forcible contraction of the pupil from too great a 
light. And because one does not see clearly and comfortably, he is some- 
times led to believe that the light is insufBcient. 

If the lamp be raised high enough to prevent the direct rays from enter- 
ing the eye, the pupil can adjust itself more to the light reflected from the 
paper. Then if a suitable globe be put over the light its intensity is de- 
creased without materially lessening the total amount of light, and if the 
globe be tulip or bell shaped, much of the light is reflected downward, so 
that about the same amount of light is thrown on the paper, and at the same 
time the eyes are protected from the direct rays of the light. 

On these principles all efforts in illumination should be based on pro- 
tecting the eye from the direct rays of light, and so diffusing that light as 
to make it less intense in any one spot without materially lessening the 
total amount of light, and to have the light so situated as to supply a sufla- 
cient amount wherever needed. These results are obtained only by the most 
careful placing of lights and the use of proper shades and globes. 

In the selection of shades and globes, their design and construction are 
of primary importance, rather than their ornamental effect, and such should 
be selected as will throw the light where desired or will decrease its inten- 
sity by diffusing it through suitable glass, or that will combine both these 
purposes. 

Shades and globes made from clear, transparent glass, similar to the 
Holophane globes, are considered by many to be the best. The inner sur- 
faces of these are corrugated or formed in prisms which are to diffuse and 
soften the light. The corrugations on the outer surfaces are intended to 
deflect these diffused rays into the desired directions. The material in these 
being clear and transparent, the loss of light by absorption is very small, 
while the corrugations or prisms accomplish the desired diffusion and deflec- 
tion of the intense light. 

There are three general classes in which these glasses are designed, 
according to results desired. One of these throws the strongest illumination 
desired downward, another throws it in all directions belov^r the horizontal, 
while the third throws the strongest illumination slightly below the hori- 
zontal, or, in fact, the light can be thrown in any desired direction by using 
a globe properly shaped for the purpose. 

Opal, opaline and ground glass globes and shades give well diffused light, 

232 



but there is considerable loss of light by absorption, and more inconvenience 
experienced in keeping the ground glass globes clean. Ordinary plain glass 
shades decorated with fancy designs are of but little value beyond their 
decorative qualities, because they change the distribution of light to such 
a slight extent. 

Reflectors of opaque metal and silvered glass most thoroughly deflect 
the light in any desired direction, but they allow of no diffusion and leave 
part of the room in darkness while an intense light is thrown in another 
part, which causes the eyes, looking from place to place in the room, to 
continually contract and dilate to such an extent as to fatigue them greatly. 

Every manager knows the dollars and cents value of good office lighting. 
The problem is simply, how can we get the best light at the least cost? The 
answer must be given in these words: Utilize all of the light you have, not 
wasting any of it. Prismatic globes and reflectors will not make light, but 
they will save the light you are now wasting. Take an ordinary incandescent 
lamp for example: This lamp does not give light equally in all directions, 
but, to the contrary, throws its greatest candle power straight sideways, and 
diminishes in all other directions. The sixteen candle power lamp gives 
sixteen candle power sideways, but only eight candle power straight down- 
ward, and between eight and sixteen candle power at the various angles, so 
if in your ofl5ice you hang a bare lamp straight pendant about two-thirds of 
the light goes up toward the ceiling and to the side walls, and only a small 
percentage of it goes downward to illuminate your desks. In other words, 
you are wasting from one-half to two-thirds of the light you are paying for 
when you do not combine the proper lamp with the proper reflector or shade. 
In order to get the highest efficiency in lighting it is necessary to direct and 
distribute the light exactly where it is wanted and in the proper amounts. 

A very good illustration to fix in the mind the idea of light control is that 
of the nozzle on a hose; the water in the hose may be compared to the light 
coming from the lamp and the nozzle to the reflector. You can get either 
a strong stream or a thin spray that covers a wide area, or anything between 
these two extremes. There are many kinds of reflectors to be had, but, to 
my mind, the prismatic or corrugated mirror reflectors, such as are used 
extensively in direct and indirect lighting, best control the light. Prismatic 
reflectors are made up of a large number of optical prisms, mathematically 
and scientifically designed, and made with much the same care as the lens 
of an optical instrument, and of a special optical glass. Each of these prisms 
directs the light rays. Variations in the design and contour of these prisms 
give the variations in light distribution. In this line, as well as in most 
others, however, there are worthless imitations. 

The latest and best method of office lighting is to have sufficient light by 
general illumination to do away with the individual desk lamp, which can 
be accomplished by either the direct or the indirect lighting system. This 
not only saves considerable in first cost of wiring and fixtures, but does away 
with the blowing of fuses occasioned by loose connections and would-be 
electricians trying to fix them. 

The first thing to do in making an installation is to ascertain the candle 
power needed, and then the number of outlets to use. This may vary from 
one in the middle of the ceiling of a small, square room, or one row of lamps 
in a long, narrow room, to a large number of smaller lamps equally distrib- 
uted on the ceiling in order to supply uniform light on the working surfaces 
of the office. 

233 



How to Plan Your Arrangements of Light. 

1. — In narrow rooms, where it is planned to use a single line of units 
placed down the middle of the room, the lights should be equipped with 
extensive type prismatic reflectors, placing the units about two-fifths to one- 
half times as high above the desks as the width of the room. These lamps 
should be placed about twice as far apart as their height above the desks. 

2. — In large rooms with unusually high ceilings, use the focusing type 
prismatic reflector, dividing the space as nearly as possible into squares, as 
described later, and placing one unit in the center of each square, with a 
height above the desks of about one and one-third times their distance apart. 

3. — In large rooms with ordinary ceiling heights, or narrow rooms in 
which it is intended to use two rows or more of light, the use of the intensive 
type prismatic reflector will be found most efficient, placing the units about 
four-fifths of their distance apart over the desks. 

4. — Where architectural interference is encountered, making it impossi- 
ble to follow rule 3, the height of the units above the desks may vary from 
two-thirds to one time their distance apart in either direction, and this with- 
out materially affecting the uniformity of the illumination. 

5. — Where we find the outlet already located, and too far apart to apply 
rule 3, or when it is found impractical to supply as many outlets as required, 
use extensive type prismatic reflectors, making the height of the units above 
the desks or working places one-half their distance apart. 

Now as to size of lamps and reflectors: where the walls, ceilings and 
woodwork are of a light color, allow about eighty watts for each 100 square 
feet of surface to be illuminated. But if the colors are dark, allow 100 to 
125 watts for each 100 square feet of surface to be illuminated. Now divide 
the number of watts as determined by the number of outlets and the result- 
ant figure is the number of watts required at each outlet. We may use one 
lamp, or a fixture with several lamps, as may be preferred, as the distribu- 
tion of a single unit or a group of its component units will be found the same, 
provided that the lamps and reflectors are hung straight pendant and not 
at an angle. These figures on wattage apply only to Tungsten lamps. 

If lamps of lower efficiency are used, the wattage and consequently the 
cost of current, will be greater. For small rooms the forty and sixty watt 
sizes will be found the best, and for larger rooms the sixty and one hundred 
watt sizes. If these rules are followed a very complete installation will be 
obtained. 

Lamps Needed for a Given Space. 

The watts necessary for a given candle power in a room may be accu- 
rately ascertained. For general office work an intensity of three to six foot 
candles is desirable, and taking this as a basis to figure from, it is an easy 
matter to ascertain the number of lamps needed for a given room or space. 

One of the best plans to follow when arranging for lighting an office is 
to divide the ceiling into squares, and then put one lamp in the center of 
each square and not in the corners, which is a very common error, as this 
does not give sufficient light to the desks that may be close to the side walls. 

In practical lighting problems, however, the spacing of the ceiling, the 
location and the height of the lamps as well, are very often dictated by the 
construction of the building, in which cases the lamp centers must be placed 
with careful regard for architectural conditions and for points where special 
illumination is desired, if there are such points. 

234 



In general, intensity of a desirable uniformity can be secured by proper 
spacing and use of lamps of proper candle power size for a given height of 
hanging; In continued clerical work it is essential that the light be carefully 
diffused and that the lamps be distributed so that each desk may obtain an 
equal illumination without shadows, and sufficient to do away entirely with 
the desk lamp. 

Shadow, however, is not to be condemned altogether, since it has its 
usefulness, the eye depending on shadows and contrasts to bring out the 
contour and details of the object, but it may be very objectionable, depending 
on its density and location, lowering in a general way the efficiency of the 
illumination. Shadows may be practically obviated, however, by dividing the 
same volume of light into a greater number of outlets properly located, and 
by thus multiplying the low cost low candle power units greater economy is 
being practiced than by multiplying the high cost high candle power units 
to obtain the same freedom from shadows. 

Fixtures to be used are immaterial, but should be in keeping with the 
general architectural scheme. The illumination does not depend on the 
fixtures but on the placement of lamps and reflectors, making sure that they 
are hung in a correct position and equipped with proper size and type of 
tungsten lamps and reflectors. 

The installation of "indirect lighting" for general office use has made 
considerable headway during the last two years, it being claimed for this 
system that its light is the nearest to daylight of all systems on account of 
using the ceilings as reflectors, and thus obtaining a large reflecting area. 

The ceiling should be either a light cream or an ivory tint, or if it is to 
be painted, a flat finish paint should be used, one having no oil in suspension, 
and giving a flat tone to the flnish. Glossy surfaces are objectionable for 
indirect lighting. The walls should be of some medium light tint, in one of 
the lighter shades of buff, brown or green. Retinting should be done every 
one and a half or two years, depending upon local conditions. 

The greatest saving by installing indirect lighting fixtures is in the orig- 
inal wiring of the building. For instance, in place of having the usual chan- 
delier fixtures, wall receptacles and drop lights, all outlets and connections 
for desk lamps and drop lights are eliminated from the original contract. 

It takes less time, also, to keep the reflectors of the indirect lighting 
system clean than the larger number of smaller types, there being but one 
side of the reflector to be wiped clean, and on account of its highly polished 
surface, it can be wiped with a soft, dry cloth without removing the reflector 
from the fixture. This is impossible with direct lighting fixtures, which must 
be removed and cleaned with water. 

In order to be able to accommodate tenants who may prefer either the 
direct or the indirect lighting system, all center chandeliers can be con- 
structed with the sockets pointing in a vertical position either toward the 
floor or ceiling. When this has been done, "adaptables" can be purchased, 
which are inexpensive and can be conveniently attached to the socket to 
convert the direct lighting fixtures into direct fixtures with little expense. 

Indirect lighting, when installed upon engineering lines, takes no more 
current than direct lighting systems where the usual center fixture and desk 
lamps are used. 

Indirect illumination is suitable for lobbies and halls of office buildings, 
theaters and hotels. This system particularly brings out the architectural 
features and decorations and entirely conceals the light source. 

235 



PARTX 



Insurance 



Fire Insurance as It Relates to Buildings 

By Charles E. Doty 

Chairman 1910-11 of the Fire Insurance Committee of the National 
Association of Building Owners and Managers 

IN order that we may realize the frailty of its inception, and the slow but 
sure progress of evolution, let us first look to a synopsis of the history 
of fire insurance. 

The great fire of London in 16G6 showed the necessity of fire insurance. 
So great was the damage wrought, that in ten years all the buildings had 
not been replaced. 

Following other numerous plans, a company called the Hand-in-Hand 
was organized prior to the year 1700. This is considered the first fire insur- 
ance company — its emblem being two clasped hands. In 1720 the Royal 
Exchange and the London Assurance were organized and these are still in 
existence. 

After several individuals had taken risks, merely promising to pay in 
case of loss, the city of Philadelphia took the first definite steps toward 
protecting property by organizing a voluntary fire department. 

By 1752 they had seven fire extinguishing companies; and in that year 
the Philadelphia Contributionship — the first fire insurance company in 
America — was organized. 

Twenty-nine years later the directors of this company decided that trees 
around a house retarded the companies fighting the fire. Friction developed 
because of this, and out of it came the Mutual Assurance Co. Both of these 
companies are still in existence, and continue their operations on the same 
lines — perpetual insurance. Defined, perpetual insurance is a deposit of a 
certain percentage of the face of the policy v/hich is paid once for all, the 
interest on it proving sufficient to provide for the losses sustained. 

The Revolutionary War exhausted the resources of the colonies, and 
Connecticut, because of its manufactories, seemed first to recover, and to this 
is attributed the organization at that time of many insurance companies 
within its borders. It is a matter of record that stock subscriptions were 
paid for, five percent in cash, five percent in thirty days, and 90 percent in 
notes and mortgages. 

The early insurance companies around the first part of the nineteenth 
century were nearly all marine companies, and the depression in commerce, 
due to the War of 1812, wiped out most of them. The survivors saved them- 
selves by changing into fire insurance companies. 

In 1810 the Hartford Fire was organized. The officers received no sal- 
aries. They had only two agencies and they showed no system in locating 
them. One was at Canandaigua, N. Y., and the other at Middlebury, Vt. In 
1820 an agency was established at Cleveland. Evidently it was apparent to 
the directors of the Hartford away back 90 years ago that Cleveland would 
always be larger than Pittsburg. 

These were the days of pioneering. Tables of classified risks were 
unthought of. Of course, there had been no experts developed to pass on 

239 



the risks. There were no maps, and there was no state supervision to pro- 
tect the policy holder. The directors passed on all questions to the minutest 
details — the vital portions of each policy with the survey, were read to the 
board before the policies were delivered. 

The great fire of 1835 in New York wiped out scores of companies. The 
Aetna's losses v/ere $115,000 — more than their resources, but the directors 
pledged their support and they paid accepted claims in full. This proved a 
good advertisement for them, for their premium receipts increased so rapidly 
that in twelve months they had as much cash as before the fire. 

And such has been the record of the companies to weather the gales of 
the Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, and other conflagrations. 
The survivors have apparently unlimited resources. 

At this time, Edwin G. Ripley, of the Aetna, was asked if they made 
money on paper mills, among which there was a frequency of fires. Ripley 
was aroused by the question and started the classification of risks, but inde- 
pendent of, and years in advance of competitors. 

Then started the mutuals. One trying to do a general business, but 
failed; and the other, the factory mutual, based upon knowledge, improve- 
ment and inspection — not doing a general business — which has succeeded. 

Then in succession has come the Standard form; daily reports, which 
facilitate the work and scope of the agents; the enlarging of the field of 
special agents, from agency establishers to adjusters of losses, and choosers 
of risks; and the stepping in of the State in reference to proper protection 
to policy holders, requiring resources to substantiate the companies' promise 
to pay in case of loss. 

In 1880 Massachusetts first required the standard form policy, and other 
states rapidly followed. And such, in part, shows the growth of fire insur- 
ance, born of necessity, and as an authority has said: 

"The evolution has been fragmentary, it is true, and not altogether in 
an orderly manner, but it has been a steady evolution nevertheless. Starting 
in ignorance of method, only having an object in view, the business of fire 
insurance has gradually reached out, and has more and more found a sure 
footing. The managers have noted where the relations of the business 
demanded changes; conflagrations have brought home to them certain 
truths; and when a form of organization or a method of doing business has 
broken dov/n, men have been found to come forward and try something new, 
generally an advance over that which had been discarded. These men soon 
realized that the sole business of fire insurance was not simply to pay losses. 
The evolution has naturally been gradual up to the point where the skilled 
and capable underwriter recognizes that his business, being a part of public 
progress, should subserve the public interest best by preventing fires. There- 
fore he has made concessions in rates for the men who will take the extra 
precautions in the line of building and fire prevention. His horizon has 
broadened and he sees that fire fighting and construction are closely related 
in the prosperity of his business. He has learned, but slowly, it is true, but 
nevertheless he has learned that what the public desires above everything 
else is certainty, and while he has grumbled many times at the intervention 
of the state in his business, today he recognizes that intervention, as a rule, 
makes for the certainty which both he and the assured desires. There are 
many incidents and events in the century and a half of fire insurance in this . 
country which might have been wisely different, but taken as a whole it has 

240 



been a sound and progressive development, comparing favorably with that of 
any other line of business." 

The buildings which we here today represent are actually valued at from 
$500,000 to $1,500,000 each; some less, and some even many times more. 
Situated as they are in the most congested sections of our cities, tliey are 
subject more or less to damage by fire; especially is this true in case of a 
great conflagration. Although the owners have spared no expense and the 
architects and engineers have spared no ingenuity to give us buildings as 
nearly proof against fire as is possible, yet there are none of us who think 
our property cannot be destroyed. 

Are we justified in carrying our own insurance, or should we, upon pay- 
ment of a stipulated sum, transfer our liability to an insurance company? 

The majority of our buildings are compelled to carry insurance, and with 
their owners there is no alternative. 

A large building worth $750,000 to $1,000,000, situated in the very heart 
of the most congested center of one of our largest cities, went along for a 
number of years without insurance. One of the ov/ners died, and the admin- 
istrators feeling obligated to the estate, required fire insurance on the build- 
ing. It costs $110 per month. There have been no losses either with or 
without the insurance. 

In another city a building worth $750,000, owned by an individual, set 
aside each year $5,000 towards a fire insurance fund. In eight years there 
have been no losses, and in the latter case also the owner died, and the 
administrator, too, now requires insurance. 

An extremely large percentage of our buildings are erected partially with 
borrowed money. The insurance companies, banks, individuals, or others 
who make the loans, require that a sufficient amount of insurance be carried 
to protect the amount of the loans. Such, too, are the requirements when 
building on leased ground. The lessor requires sufficient insurance be car- 
ried so that any possible damage to the building may be repaired and the 
tenancy continued without the possible loss to the lessor in rentals. 

We have here illustrations of the individual and independent owner, 
either willfully or neglectfully carrying his own insurance, and instances of 
owners, because of their financial obligations, compelled to be fully protected, 
and the latter are in the majority by a large percentage. 

Why shouldn't everyone be insured? 

Within the last few years the National Association of Credit Men, com- 
posed of from 8,000 to 10,000 members, and among them representatives of 
our greatest and largest corporations, have become alive to the necessity of 
fire insurance. The individual credit men are being educated to ascertain 
whether their customers are protected in case of loss by fire. Who would 
want to be the one who sold goods to the merchant who was without insur- 
ance when his establishment burned, and the last bill of goods unpaid. 

Because our buildings are erected on mother earth, and built of stone, 
brick, cement, steel, and in many instances managed by brains — what would 
be the loss in case of a conflagration? What is the possibility of loss, even 
on one floor, from fire started on the premises? 

And, as one of the bulletins of the Credit Men says, "Insure, and do it 
now — otherwise your assets today may be cinders tomorrow." 

When a member of your family is ill, you want as good a physician as 
your money will employ. When you are desperately in need of a good law- 
yer you want as good an attorney as you can get. When you place your fire 

241 



insurance, use the same rule — employ the best and most reliable agency, or 
there will be breakers ahead for you. 

In large cities competition is so keen among insurance men, they realize, 
or at least ought to realize, that rates being equal, their ability to secure and 
hold your business is in their ability to give the best insurance obtainable. 
They can assist you in drawing up special clauses, which apply to your par- 
ticular needs, that will make you amply secure in case of a fire. Then, too, 
they can assist in a quick and equitable adjustment of your loss. 

The history of fire insurance covers to the present time a period of 244 
years, and it is the results of this experience that an agent ought to offer 
to his clients. 

The nature of his calling does not necessarily make the building man- 
ager an insurance expert, and it behooves him to soak in a little of the 
other's experience whenever the opportunity affords. 

As an illustration of the little things that can happen to annul the intent 
of your insurance, and of the necessity of closely reading the conditions of 
your policy, and also of having your insurance with a good, live agent, let 
me cite this instance that occurred to one of my tenants a few years ago: 

This tenant had space on the third floor, and in the basement, and sup- 
posed that their insurance agent had them properly protected. They claim 
he was aware of the two different locations. They had a fire in the basement 
and the loss was $2,000. The loss was properly adjusted and the amount 
agreed upon when it was discovered the insurance covered the stock only 
on the third floor. The insurance companies would not pay a cent of the loss 
and the tenant accepted their ultimatum as final. 

I recently found a case parallel to the one just mentioned, in which the 
insured did not accept the decree of the insurance company as final, but sued, 
and his claim was sustained by the court. 

A man who took out insurance on goods on the first fioor of a building 
afterward moved the goods from the first to the third floor. A fire destroyed 
the property. The company refused to pay, on the ground that the location 
had been changed, and that the policy was thereby invalidated. This con- 
tention was not maintained in the courts, but it might have been if the evi- 
dence had tended to show the goods could have been saved if they had still 
been on the first floor. In other words, if the fire had started at the top of 
the building instead of in the basement, the insured might not have been 
able to recover his loss. 

Which are the best insurance companies? 

In a recent issue of the directory I found the names of some 175 to 180 
insurance companies represented in the city of Cleveland. 

The insurance on the building that I manage, is placed in twenty-one 
different companies, so it is easily seen that I can have my choice — and well 
I may. 

In the past fifty years, 1,000 insurance companies have failed. Do you 
know the name of the company that paid $4,000,000 in losses in the San 
Francisco fire, and still plods along writing policies and paying its new losses 
without outside help? Do you know the names of any of the companies that 
paid their losses in this conflagration without a whimper and their assets are 
still in excess of their liabilities? These are the companies to which to tie 
for it is their past records and not future promises in v.'hich we are vitally 
interested. 

242 



Investigate your companies as carefully as you would your own tenants. 
Learn their net surplus above capital and all other liabilities. 

There are several ways in which to learn definitely about their financial 
responsibilities. Your State Superintendent of Insurance, located at each 
state capital, is a source of information as to companies operating within 
his state. An application to the loan department of any life insurance com- 
pany will bring a list of companies acceptable to them. Surely they ought 
to have an unbiased list. But you may find it a long one, and a careful 
scrutiny of the names as to their size can further satisfy you as to their 
fitness to meet your requirements. 

Your agent and your companies determined, you MUST give your most 
careful attention to the policy. 

A fire insurance policy has been defined as "a contract to indemnify the 
holder thereof for actual destruction, by fire, of value appertaining to certain 
specified" property owned by him." 

Marine insurance is written for the actual value of the stock insured at 
the time the policy is written. But losses by fires, as our definition indicates, 
are settled on the basis of the actual value at the time of the fire. 

In case of a partial loss to your building, have you the records on which 
to secure an equitable adjustment to yourself? 

Personally, I believe that each building should be most carefully ap- 
praised, fioor by floor, by an accepted appraisal company. When adjusting 
a loss, this will show actual value at a certain date, a percentage can be 
agreed upon for determination, and with it you can dictate the settlement 
and not the adjuster. 

In a book entitled "Fire Insurance in Mills," and published in 1882, I 
found this paragraph: 

"Competition among underwriters has reduced the cost of insuring man- 
ufacturing property to the lowest practicable approach to the actual risk 
involved; and the expense of insurance cannot be lessened in any other 
manner than by diminishing the hazards of fire." 

That may have sounded all right in 1882, and I believe it did; but in the 
time present it is the farthest from fact. 

I know of no combination of business interests as closely interwoven as 
the fire insurance companies. On the 9th of June, 1910, in the Indianapolis 
News, Attorney-General Bingham, of Indiana, was quoted as saying that if, 
through his suit against 129 fire insurance companies, he could break up the 
fire insurance combine, it would open up the fire insurance in business in 
Indianapolis on a fair competitive basis, which would produce fair profits for 
the insurance companies and at the same time reduce the cost to the in- 
sured. 

Combination or no combination — if we are being given an equitable and 
fair rate we are not justified in wasting our time in protest. But if, on the 
other hand, upon us is levied a tax — for insurance is a tax — in excess of 
what our losses should bear, then we, as building managers, are negligent if 
we do not demand our fair rate and fight for it until the "cows come home." 

Although the history of fire insurance dates back 169 years before, yet 
the classification of risks was unthought of until the year 1835. And today 
that classification of risks does us little good unless we actually make use 
of it. 

In each and every city of sufficient size, the fire insurance companies 
(or at least those in the combine) maintain what is called an inspection 

243 



bureau, and this, I believe, is a part of the state inspection bureau. The 
word "inspection," however, is a misnomer, for the object of its work is the 
making of rates. 

Nearly four years ago I was notifled that owing to certain defects in 
wiring, negligence of tenants and several other items, the rate on our build- 
ing had been increased about a hundred fold. And the tenants were told 
they were soaked, too. I immediately took the matter up with the manager 
of the inspection bureau, and promised him all of his recommendations would 
be complied with, both by ourselves and by our tenants, who would be 
evicted unless they did comply. After a systematic effort the work was all 
completed, and then I applied for our former rating. Did I get it? Pointing 
to a long picture hanging on the wall, he said: "Do you see that?" Looking 
at a photo of the Baltimore fire, I said, "Yes." And then pointing to a picture 
on another wall he said: "Do you see that?" And looking at a photo of the 
results of the San Francisco disaster, I again replied, "Yes." Then he said: 
"Someone has got to pay for that," and the rate that we had for six years, 
and upon which the insurance companies had enjoyed nearly 100 percent 
clear profit, was boosted because some one, or the system employed, had 
blundered. 

Do the stockholders pay for their mistakes? No! And if fire insurance 
agents reflect the opinions of the stockholders, they don't admit of any mis- 
takes. 

To a well versed insurance agent I recently remarked that there are but 
few fires which could not have been prevented by due foresight on the part 
of some one. 

"Could the Baltimore fire have been prevented?" he asked. 

"Not now," I replied; "but it could have been prevented." 

My apparent narrow one-sidedness appalled him, and he said that he 
could readily see I knew nothing about fire insurance. 

Concerning the prevention of fire and the Baltimore fire in particular, 
let me quote one who hits the nail on the head after my own heart: 

"Every underwriter knows that science long ago gave us automatic 
devices, unfailing in action, whereby a flood of water automatically plays 
upon a fire breaking out anywhere in a building, effectually preventing its 
spread and often extinguishing the flames. These devices are so cheap that 
equipment companies will install them free of extra cost to the insured. 
Vv''ere the owners of warehouses and stocks in Baltimore, where values under 
single roofs ran into a million dollars without being thus protected, refused 
insurance because of obvious negligence so inexcusable as to be criminal in 
its shortsightedness? Not at all. Was this wholesale district, peppered with 
dozens of instances of such foolhardy recklessness, placed under a ban, com- 
pelled by utter inability to procure insurance, to install automatic fire extin- 
guishing appliances? Not at all. No more than they are in dozens of cities 
that can be named. Due notice, followed in the event of general apathy by 
one emphatic "No insurance to offer" all along the line, could have compelled 
Baltimore, inside of a year, to make itself immune against sweeping confla- 
grations. The refusal to accept the local premiums for a year would have 
saved the companies and the public $30,000,000 in indemnity, and would have 
meant as a reward for a year's abstinence, a profitable business for years 
after the ban had been removed." 

"It will be urged that such joint action could only be reached as the 
result of conspiracy, punishable at law. By what process, forsooth, do a 

244 



hundred fire offices in a city so stifle competition that their uniform charge 
for insuring certain merchandise lying in a particular building is, say, $1.7639 
per $100 — the price not varying half a cent, though you rap at the doors of 
the hundred underwriters? By conspiracy, of course. And conspiracy, for 
obvious public benefit, could not be more reprehensible than for covert public 
pillage. But the more dangerous the conditions, the higher the premium; 
the higher the premium, the greater the commission, and the greater the 
scramble among the agents to induce their home offices to issue dangerous 
policies. Apart from adequate inspection, moral and physical, and the con- 
flagration cure, is there anyone competent to speak v/ho believes that the 
losses due to isolated fires could not be materially reduced by heroic rem- 
edies applied after a fire for the purpose of preventing recurrences. For 
instance, fires happen every year, in 500 schoolhouses, 600 churches, and 
1,400 hotels, and yet the conditions which produce these fires are being 
perpetuated. Why? In the greatest measure, because the fire insurance 
companies contemplate such visitations with imperturbable equanimity! The 
losses come out of the pockets of those who do not burn down. All that the 
brokers' principals do is to see that enough people with property relatively 
immune against fire, pay into the pool enough money to refund the losses of 
those sure money-losers who bribe heavily for admission to the same pool." 

Yet, after all is said and done regarding the administration, it is the 
system of insurance that, in the main, is defective. Born long ago under 
conditions to which it was then far better adapted, it has withstood the 
commercial revolution, the industrial upheavals, and, as a whole, has stood 
unchanged, stubborn and unbending, while the whole business world about 
it was being transformed. Unless the ferment within is already at work 
producing changes not yet visible outwardly, it looks as if the revolution in 
insurance methods will have to be wrought through external agencies. Pres- 
ent conditions cannot continue long after the business man realizes that the 
figures in his insurance bills cover mostly disbursements for criminal neg- 
ligence and apathy, greed, incendiarism, and a thousand preventable causes 
of fire and conflagration, and while the genuinely unavoidable cost of fire 
could be covered for a tithe of what he now pays. The whole business com- 
munity is wretchedly served and badly abused in its confidence; it should 
v/ork out its own salvation and not wait to have it worked out by others. 
There is, furthermore, a large section of this same community that should 
seek special relief because it can get special relief from this evergrowing 
burden and abuse; it is that section which, besides being sound and upright, 
financially and morally, has its property in such a condition that the prob- 
ability of fire is much below the average — the class of insurers who do not 
burn down and who, under existing conditions, pay for the losses of those 
who can afford to burn down, who do burn down — in fact, pay the whole 
insurance bill of $200,000,000 or more a year. It is that class of hotels, of 
newspaper plants, of furniture houses, of breweries, of clothing makers, of 
hardware dealers, with the excellent record, who today are charged a "basic 
rate" by grouping them with those who have the bad record and will continue 
to have fire. 

And wherein lies the remedy? 

Mr. George H. Holt, to whom I propounded the question: "Will it be 
necessary to organize an office building mutual?" writes: "While I think it 
will be unnecessary to form a mutual company to write office buildings alone, 
yet there is no doubt in the world that such an institution would be highly 

245 



profitable. When the New England Factory Mutuals can pay their losses 
and operating expenses at a cost of six or eight cents on a hundred dollars, 
writing hazardous risks throughout the country, it is absurd that fireproof 
office buildings should be required to pay the premiums which are exacted 
in most cities." 

It is an actual fact that in 1909 the average net cost of all insurance of 
the New England Factory Mutuals was but 4^ per $100. 

How many times 4t,^ cents are office building rates? lu Chicago, I am 
told, the insurance companies have a stop rate of 15 cents, but that the rate 
is nearer 40 cents than 15. 

In the record of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company 
in 1909, in the Illinois classification report, may be found this vital informa- 
tion: With a premium income of $550,000 and an aggregate amount of risks 
of $44,000,000, the ratio of losses paid to premiums received was 42.3 percent 
on dwellings and their contents; 70.82 percent on mercantile risks; 42.91 
percent on special hazards, and 11.45 percent on all other risks. There is no 
other classification in which office buildings could be placed in this schedule, 
excepting the very cream, "all other risks." The loss ratio under that classi- 
fication is but 11.45 percent, while under mercantile risks, which means brick 
and frame mercantiles of moderate size, this company carries $12,600,000 
insurance, and the loss ratio was 70.80 percent. 

Surely sufficient evidence has been submitted to show that office build- 
ings are contributing more than their share of the premiums to help carry 
the losses on more hazardous risks. 

From a mass of correspondence received from Business Managers all 
over the country, I am of the opinion that in localities where there has been 
agitation, the office buildings have been given a better rate than they would 
have otherwise received. And greater will be the results obtained "if," as a 
western manager wrote, "property owners can unify their efforts; for then, 
v/ith a solid front, we can secure reforms which will bring us results pos- 
sibly unthought of to any of us here." 

I maintain that if the insurance companies of this country will employ 
the rigid policies — or practices — of the New England Factory Mutuals, the 
fire insurance rates will be forced down away below their present level, 
because the losses will be materially decreased. Contrast the frequent in- 
spections of the Factory Mutuals with the infrequent and ofttimes not at all 
inspections of the old line companies. Then contrast the losses of the one 
with the other. It is prevention from fire, which inspection will help give us, 
that we want far more than the indemnity in case of loss. 

Contrast the refusal of the Factory Mutuals to take the risks made haz- 
ardous by exposure and the greed of the old line companies to write them 
and then again contrast their losses. 

If a garage is stuck up alongside of your beautiful and modern fireproof 
structure, a few cents are immediately tacked on your rate. How long would 
you be exposed to that risk if the garage instead of the fireproof structure 
v/ere compelled to stand the penalty of exposure in the shape of increased 
premiums? And such a system is not im.possible, but just. 



246 



New Fire Schedule of Fireproof Office 

Buildings 

By Cullen Brown 

FIRE INSURANCE, which originated in betting between merchants as 
to whether their ships would arrive safely or not, has, through modern 
commercial demands, grown into an enormous commercial proposition, 
until now practically every risk is subject to a schedule in which charges 
are made for conditions which experience has proved to the companies is 
hazardous, and credits for certain conditions are given in order to form an 
equitable rate. For instance, a building with a fire escape is given a credit 
for same, for it affords this protection to that building that, if a fire occurs 
in the adjoining building, the firemen have a safe platform from which to 
fight the flames, thus not only aiding the fire company to put out the fire in 
the exposed building, but also preventing the fire from doing damage to the 
building equipped with the fire escape. 

Years of experience and comparison of losses have enabled the com- 
panies to prepare a schedule more or less perfect, which will give a rate on 
the modern fireproof office building. This schedule covers three closely 
printed pages, starting out with the area and ending with a reduction for 
eighty percent coinsurance clause. 

In order to establish a basic rate, the first consideration is the height 
and area of the building, the next consideration, the occupancy. It is very 
plain that an open space 20x100 feet cannot contain as much inflammable 
material or cause as severe a fire as a space 40x100 feet, and it is also very 
plain that in a building two stories high a fireman can fight a fire in any 
portion of the building without trouble, whereas in a building sixteen stories 
high it is very difficult to get water to the top fioor. As for occupancy, a 
building which Is filled with inflammable material, such as furniture, open 
stock of dry goods, or something similar, is much more susceptible to fire 
than a building filled with pig iron; of course, between these two supposed 
occupanies there is a wide difference, and the insurance companies have 
tried to make a proper allowance for all. 

A modern fireproof office building is divided into many small spaces by 
non-combustible partitions; thus a fire would have no chance to gain any 
great headway in comparison with, say, a department store, In which the fire 
can run from one end of a fioor to another in a very short space of time. 

Let us take a typical office building and go through the schedule, sup- 
posing the building to be 100x100, of sixteen stories and basement, we have 
a basic charge of 45.5 cents. As the two lower floors are presumed to have 
fireproof partitions between the rooms and above the second floor, ordinary 
non-combustible divisions, a credit is given of 3.2 cents, making the net basis 
charge 42.3 cents; as the two lower floors are usually given up to commercial 
purposes, the charge would be 15 percent of the basis rate for these two 
floors. The outside walls are supposed to be curtain walls, 12 Inches thick, 
and if they are so, no charge is made. If these walls, instead of being brick, 

247 



are constructed of stone, tile or terra cotta, there is an additional charge, 
owing to the greater damagability of these. Wooden frames for bay windows 
would also be charged for. Any skylights, not wire glass and metal frames, 
would also be charged for. Open well holes, light shafts, or courts, open to 
the sky, owing to the danger of brands from burning buildings being carried 
through the air and deposited in such open spaces, causing interior fires, 
would bring a further charge. Floors are supposed to be constructed of 
reinforced concrete, with nailing strips imbedded in fireproof material; 
wooden floors on concrete, however, are allowed without any charge. Two 
open stair cases are allowed and one bank of open elevators without charge. 

Presuming that the building has the ordinary hazards of a fireproof office 
building, such as a restaurant with cooking done by gas, no coal stoves, 
men's furnishing store, drug store, bank, railway ticket office and cigar 
store, which occupancies are usually found in a large office building, there 
would be a charge for the first two floors, where these occupancies are sup- 
posed to be, of 14 percent of the basis rate; as stated above, the partitions 
are presumed to be non-combustible, resting on a fireproof floor, anchored 
at both top and bottom. The stairs are supposed to be metal, and the 
threads slate with a metal sub thread. Heat is supposed to be steam in 
basement engine room, cut off from the rest of the building. Of course, 
lighting is supposed to be electric light with wiring up to standard. For 
instance, I have an example of two buildings in which a charge of 5 cents 
was made for deficiencies in electric light wiring. All roof houses are sup- 
posed to be fireproof. Of course, the fireproofing of the beams, trusses, etc., 
is supposed to be standard. 

Summing it up, we find a charge of 15 percent for the commercial oc- 
cupancies on the first and second fioors under the area charge and 14 per- 
cent under the communication charge, inasmuch as it is presumed that these 
various stores, restaurants, etc., will have unprotected openings between 
themselves and the rest of the building. There is also a general charge of 
38 percent as the penalty for occupancy; by this it is meant that a haber- 
dasher store or restaurant and other commercial occupants have enough 
inflammable material in an open space, so that a fire could gain enough 
headway to cause considerable damage to the building. This gives us a 
total of 67 percent of the basis rate of 42.3 cents and brings the total up to 
70.6 cents. There is a credit in fireproof buildings vv-here there is no stone 
or marble interior decorations; this would not, however, apply to the aver- 
age office building; neither would water-tight floor ways, for which there is a 
credit, nor fi-reproof cut-offs. There is, however, a credit for an inside four- 
inch stand pipe with a 1%-inch hose of 3 percent of the basis rate and a 
credit for an outside fire escape with outside stand pipe of 4 percent. 
There should be a credit for a watchman reporting to a central station. 
However, the new schedule makes no allowance for this, as, under their 
rules, a watchman must make his roimds every hour, and in a 16-story build- 
ing 100x100 it would require at least two men patrolling the building con- 
stantly all night, and in case of the plant not running twenty-four hours 
would require them to climb up sixteen stories and be on the move con- 
stantly, which evidently is not practical and eventually I believe this rule 
will be amended so that an inspection at 10 p. m., 12 m., and 6 a. m.., with an 
hourly report in the basement, will be regarded as sufficient. 

The credit on the stand pipes and fire escape being 7 percent of the 
basis rate, we have a net rate of 67.8 cents. 

248 



We now take up the point of exposure charges. If the exposing build- 
ings are under three stories and the openings in the office buildings are pro- 
tected with wire glass with metal frames, there is no charge; if, however, 
these openings are not protected, a charge of 5 percent based on the rate 
of the exposing buildings is made; that is, if the rate of the exposing build- 
ing is 1 pei'cent, the charge would be 5 cents; if the rate is l^^ percent, the 
charge would be lii cents. If the exposing buildings exceed three stories, 
a wall damage charge is made on the same basis as above. 

A great many people do not recognize the great damage a small fire can 
cause to terra cotta or stone. An instance in my experience occurred the 
other day in which a client of ours was erecting a fireproof bakery; he had 
his terra cotta piled on a vacant lot near the building and protected from 
abrasion by straw, as terra cotta is usually packed. About 11 p. m. some- 
one threw a lighted match or something of a similar nature into the straw, 
which caught fire, and, although the fire department was only three blocks 
away, the resulting blaze damaged 50 percent of the terra cotta so that 
it could not be used. You can readily see what damage a fire in a six-story 
building, filled with the ordinary combustible material, would cause to the 
stone or terra cotta trim of an office building. 

Allowing that this typical office building should have one exposure of 
a three-story building with no protection and an exposure of a six-story office 
building from which the supposed office building v,'as protected, each of 
which rated at 1 percent, we have an additional charge of 10 cents, or a 
total built up rate of 78 cents. 

Insurance companies base their rates on the supposition that everyone, 
for their own protection, will carry at least 80 percent of the value of the 
goods or buildings insured, but it has been found that in very many cases a 
$500,000 fireproof office building will only carry about |50,000 of insurance 
to take care of minor fires, such as are classed as "Awning" or "Waste 
Paper Basket" fires, and, in consequence, the volume of premium is not 
enough to take care of the conflagration hazard and to force the assured to 
carry a proper amount of insurance, the basis rate is made very high, but 
a 50 percent credit is given in case the assured will carry insurance to the 
amount of 80 percent of the value of the building; therefore, this clause 
attached will bring the rate down to 39 cents for five years; for three annual 
premiums, it will further reduce the rate to 23.4 cents. 

Insurance companies further allow term insurance, that is, you may pay 
an amount equal to three years' premium and receive a policy which will 
cover this risk for term of five years; this will further reduce the rate to 23.4 
cents. 




249 



First Official Report of the Fire 

Insurance Committee of Building 

Owners and Managers 

By Charles E. Doty, Chairman 

THE subject of lire insurance has become a most popular one with 
organizations throughout the entire country. One authority said 
that every state legislature in session last winter passed, or at least 
considered, legislation affecting fire insurance. So persistently has the pub- 
lic delved into the subject that it is satisfied that it knows its weaknesses, 
and it has, with this knowledge, put the fire insurance companies entirely 
on the defensive. 

In November, 1910, the New York State legislature started an investiga- 
tion of the fire insurance companies which opened the eyes of the public to 
the knowledge that the insurance companies are running their business on 
a gamble with fate, and not on a scientific basis of correct rating of fire risks. 

Everything else being equal, there is no reason why insurance rates in 
Detroit should be higher than in Cleveland, and yet the Penobscot building 
in Detroit is 42 cents and the Chamber of Commerce in Cleveland is 25 
cents. That is one of the inequalities in rates that your committee has dis- 
covered, and it is inequality in rates, not only in different locations, but in 
the different classes of risks, and hosts of other complaints that have caused 
the public to clamor for the regulation of the fire insurance companies. 

Your committee acknov/Iedges that some insurance reformers may be too 
radical. The companies, themselves, do not welcome house cleaning at all. 
So whatever may be the course pursued, we hope it will be the one which 
will bring lower rates to the insured, and enormous reduction in our annual 
fire waste and the continuance of our valued institutions, the fire insurance 
companies, on a scientific basis and an equita,ble one to all classes of risks, 
as well. 

Congressman Jackson has introduced a resolution calling for an appro- 
priation of a quarter of a million dollars to cover the expense of investigating 
the loss of life and property by fire, and the rates charged for fire insurance. 
We believe that if passed, this resolution will bring about a reasonable re- 
duction in rates on our buildings over the entire country. The classes of 
risks which bring the greatest losses should bear the highest rates. We 
argue and have compiled data v/ith which to substantiate our claim, that the 
class or risk which we represent does not contribute to the fire loss to an 
appreciable degree, and should be so rated. 

This national investigation has a distinct advantage over state investi- 
gation. Fire insurance is in no sense local. The San Francisco disaster 
affected every section from that city clear to Eastport, Me. An institution 
so far reaching should be investigated, therefore, by the national govern- 
ment, rather than by the several states. And neither should the insurance 

250 



companies be compelled to compile data for forty-seven different states that 
could be more effectively used by the national govei'nment. 
We give Congressman Jackson's resolution in full: 

62d Congress, 1st Session. H. J. Res. 97. 

In the House of Representatives. May 12, 1911. 
Mr. Jackson introduced the following joint resolution, which was re- 
ferred to the committee on appropriations and ordered to be printed: 

Joint Resolution. 

Providiiig for an investigation for the purpose of collecting statistical 
data relating to the loss of life and property by fire in the United States, 
the reasonableness of rates charged for fire insurance, and the relation of 
such rates to the causes of fire losses, and making an appi'opriation to meet 
the expenses thereof. 

Whereas, the loss of life and property by fire in this country is abnor- 
mal, and is to a large extent removable by economic treatment, under suit- 
able laws and governmental supervision; and 

Whereas, there is necessity for investigation of the causes of such losses 
by fire and the collection of statistical data relating thereto, as well as the 
relation to such losses of rates charged for fire insurance, to the end that 
the people of the several states of the United States may adopt proper 
expedients to prevent such losses and to secure fire insurance at reasonable 
cost, as well as to promote the education of their citizenship in preventing 
conflagration; and 

Whereas, the several states, in their efforts to deal with these problems 
and the regulation of fire insurance rates, are meeting with many obstacles, 
in that there is no central source of information from which facts concern- 
ing the causes, number, and history of fires can be obtained, tabulated, and 
analyzed, and their relation to reasonable fire insurance rates made mani- 
fest; and 

Whereas, the determination of reasonable fire insurance rates for any 
state requires a consideration of the facts and history of fire losses in all 
the states, and such work will be greatly facilitated and made more perfect 
by a central bureau of research, which must of necessity be conducted by 
the Federal government: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
State of America, in Congress asseznbled, That the President of the United 
States be hereby authorized and directed to employ suitable experts and 
assistants and to cause an exhaustive inquiry to be made into all available 
facts bearing upon the loss of life and property by fire and upon the means 
of preventing such loss in the future. Inquiry shall also be made to show 
what proportion the loss of property by fire bears to the whole amount of 
property insured in the several states, and all other facts necessary to estab- 
lish proper classifications and reasonable fire insurance rates throughout 
the United States. The President is also directed to invite the co-operation 
of the states in the investigation by ordering the accumulation of such 
reports of the current experience of fire insurance companies as the experts 
employed shall find necessary for the work to be accomplished. Said experts 
shall report to the President the findings of the analysis of the facts ex- 
amined by them, to the end that the states shall be aided in making mani- 
fest the reasonableness of fire insurance rates and the efforts to restrict 

251 



fire waste. At some date within two years from the date of their appoint- 
ment, said experts shall make a full report of what has been found by them 
and shall set forth what should be done to establish a permanent bureau 
dealing with the problems of fire waste and the proper measurement of fire 
hazard, for the establishment of fire insurance rates. 

Sec. 2. That the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars be ap- 
propriated from any moneys not otherwise appropriated to pay the expenses 
of the inquiry provided for by this resolution. 

In behalf of this joint resolution, your committee submits the following 
resolution and urges its adoption. A similar resolution has already been 
adopted by the Building Managers' Association of Chicago and Seattle. 

(Copy.) 

Whereas, the Secretary of the Interior has recently brought to public 
attention the fact that the fire waste in the United States is excessively large 
and is constantly increasing, and 

Whereas, no adequate records of such fire waste now exist, and 

Whereas, only an exhaustive investigation of such fire waste and com- 
pilation of such records will disclose the cause and thereby suggest a remedy 
for the same, and 

Whereas, such an exhausive investigation can be properly conducted 
only by the Federal government, therefore be it 

Resolved, That the National Convention of Building Managers, assembled 
in Cleveland, most heartily endorses and approves the H. J. resolution 
ninety-seven, introduced by Hon. Fred S. Jackson of Kansas, and pledges 
its moral support to the furtherance of said resolution, and be it further 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions commending his action in 
introducing this worthy legislation be sent to Congressman Jackson, the 
Secretary of the Interior, and to every other member of Congress, request- 
ing their best endeavors in behalf of the aforesaid resolution. 

Your committee prepared a form which they sent out to some 2,000 
building managers throughout the country. The result of the information 
secured on these blanks has been tabulated and is submitted as a part of 
our report. 

It was not compulsory on the part of anyone to give the information 
requested and for that reason we think we were very successful in securing 
as many returns as we did. 

Your committee personally presented these figures to Mr. J. V. Parker, 
manager Western Actuarial Bureau, Chicago, as our argument for lower 
rates. Mr. Parker very pleasantly and very frankly advised us that up to 
the time present the insurance companies have not rated modern office 
buildings on a schedule planned to meet the conditions which they present, 
but that there is in process of perfecting the "Parker Schedule." 

The "Parker Schedule" is the product of Mr. J. V. Parker, from whose 
letter of July 6th, 1911, we quote the following: 

"Owing to the demands upon my office recently on account of the new 
laws becoming effective in different states, I have been unable to complete 
my publication for measuring the fire hazard of buildings of fireproof con- 
struction. 

"I succeeded in having a revised edition printed, but up to the present 
time have not been able to complete my test applications. Therefore, I am 
unable to say whether or not I have succeeded in eliminating all the incon- 
sistencies in this edition. I think, however, while I may not have succeeded 

252 



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256 



entirely in getting it on a working basis, that it is in pretty fair shape, and 
have sent it out to my regular subscribers, suggesting that they use it 
cautiously for a few months and at the end of that time favor me with such 
suggestions as they may have to make after putting it to a practical test. 

"I had daily expected to get these test applications in shape so that I 
could submit same to you showing average results, but owing to the many 
difficulties encountered recently, I have not succeeded in doing so up to the 
present time, although I hope to have them completed within a week or 
ten days. 

"As I am unable to furnish you with any tabulation showing the average 
effect on existing estimates, it occurred to me that possibly the effect on a 
dozen or fifteen specific risks, with a little idea of the class of buildings, 
might be of interest. I therefore had such a list prepared, copy of which I 
am enclosing herewith. While the majority of results quoted in this list 
show a reduction, I do not want you to get the impression that that is going 
to be the result on every building, because there will be some increases on 
badly exposed buildings or hazardously occupied buildings, or even on poorly 
constructed buildings. There will also be some increases at certain points 
where the method that has been followed in the past for making estimates 
on buildings of this class of construction produced generally lower figures 
than the methods followed at some other point. You, of course, understand 
that no system which places the estimates on any particular class of this 
kind, on a uniform basis in all cities, can be expected to produce the same 
results at different points, when the method formerly in use varied mate- 
rially." 

Test Cases Showing Application of "Parker Schedule." 

Five-story brick building, plastered walls, occupied by wholesale paper 
house. Old rate with co-insurance, 28 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 24 
cents. 

Four-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, oc- 
cupied by a wholesale hardware house. Old rate with co-insurance, 34 cents; 
new rate with co-insurance, 29 cents. 

Fourteen-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied as a hotel and lower floor mercantile occupants. Old rate with 
co-insurance, 49 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 38 cents. 

One-story brick building, heavy walls, occupied by a bank. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 22 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 16 cents. 

Three-story brick building, heavy walls, marble facing front wall, occu- 
,pied by a bank. Old rate with coinsurance, 23 cents; new rate with co- 
insurance, 18 cents. 

Ten-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by bank and offices with restaurant in basement. Old rate with co- 
insurance, 26 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 20 cents. 

Fourteen-story skeleton steel constructed building with brick curtain 
walls, occupied by bank on lower floors, offices above, and numerous tailor 
shops distributed through building. Old rate with co-insurance, 45 cents; 
new rate with co-insurance, 33 cents. New rate includes exposure charge 
13 cents net. 

Eight-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied by bank on lower floors and printing office on eighth. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 18 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 13 cents. 

257 



Four-story brick building, pilastered walls, with mercantile occupants 
throughout building. Old rate with co-insurance, 39 cents; new rate with 
co-insurance, 27 cents. 

Four-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied by three machine shops. Old rate with co-insurance, 82 cents; 
new rate with co-insurance, 36 cents. 

Eight-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied by general storage warehouse. Old rate with co-insurance, 52 
cents; new rate with co-insurance, 22 cents. 

Four-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied oy lamp manufacturing concern (electric). Old rate with co-insur- 
ance, 49 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 36 cents. New rate includes 
exposure charge of 12 cents net, and after charge of 3 cents net. 

Five-story reinforced concrete constructed building, eight-inch brick cur- 
tain walls, occupied by washing machine manufacturing company. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 34 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 28 cents. 

Five-story brick building, heavy brick walls, interior supports of re- 
inforced concrete, occupied by a glove factory. Old rate with co-insurance, 
30 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 27 cents. 

Six-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by small mercantile firms; lower floor offices, and business college 
above. Old rate with co-insurance, 331-3 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 
27 cents. 

Five-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by a hotel. Old rate with co-insurance, 55 cents; new rate with co- 
insurance, 48 cents. 

Six-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, oc- 
cupied by a hotel and lower floor small mercantile occupants. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 55 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 46 cents. 

Six-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by bank and offices. Old rate with co-insurance, 20 cents; new rate 
with co-insurance, 19 cents. 

Five-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by a hotel and lower floor number mercantile occupants. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 59 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 55 cents. 

Six-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, occu- 
pied by a hotel and lower floor number mercantile occupants. Old rate 
with co-insurance, 29 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 26 cents. 

Seven-story skeleton steel constructed building, heavy brick curtain 
walls, occupied by bank and offices. Old rate with co-insurance, 37 cents; 
new rate with co-insurance, 26 cents. 

Four-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied by a clothing store. Old rate with co-insurance, 21 cents; new 
rate with co-insurance, 32 cents. New rate includes exposure charge of 6 
cents net. 

Seven and nine-story skeleton steel constructed building with 12-inch 
brick curtain walls, occupied by a cold storage warehouse and refrigerating 
plant. Building divided into four sections. Old rate averaged 25 cents; 
new rate averages 22 cents. Both with co-insurance. 

Three-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain 
walls, occupied by a wire and ornamental iron manufacturing company, 
electrical equipment company, electrical welding company and overall fac- 

258 



tory. Old rate with co-insurance, 32 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 36 
cents. The increase in rate is caused by an increase in occupancy since 
last rating. 

Two-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied by ten occupants as automobile garages, salesrooms, automobile 
supplies and accessories, commercial photographer and fire alarm central 
station. Old rate with co-insurance, 31 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 
42 cents. 

Eight-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, oc- 
cupied all floors by numerous printing, bookbinding and lithographing estab- 
lishments and also mercantile occupants. Old rate with co-insurance, 88 
cents; new rate with co-insurance, $1.02. New rate includes an exposure 
charge of 6 cents net and an after charge of 3 cents net. 

Eleven-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, 
occupied as furniture and department store and other mercantile occupants 
— first to fifth, and offices above. Old rate with co-insurance, 54 cents; new 
rate with co-insurance, 58 cents. New rate includes after charge of 4 cents 
net. 

Seven-story reinforced concrete constructed building, brick curtain 
walls, occupied as a cold storage warehouse. Old rate with co-insurance, 17 
cents; new rate with co-insurance, 20 cents. 

Four-story reinforced concrete pier constructed building, brick curtain 
walls, occupied by printing, knitting factory and automobile accessories 
manufacturers. Old rate with co-insurance, 30 cents; new rate with co-in- 
surance, 37 cents. Old rate did not include auto accessories manufacturing. 

Seven-story skeleton steel constructed building, brick curtain walls, oc- 
cupied lower floors by a number of mercantile occupants, offices above. 
Old rate with co-insurance, 24 cents; new rate with co-insurance, 26 cents. 

With but one exception you will observe the test cases quoted under 
the new schedule show a reduction in rates. 

If the new "Parker Schedule" is applied within a reasonable time, we 
do not recommend that the question of general lower rates be agitated until 
the effects of the schedule are actually known. 

We recommend in the erection of new buildings that the exposure 
hazard be taken very seriously into consideration, for when the new schedule 
is issued the basis rate will be very low, but charges will be very heavy for 
exposures. 

We would like to see our successors take serious recognition of the 
suggestion made at the Washington convention that the exposure charge 
be charged to the exposure and not against property exposed, and submit 
to the insurance companies a plan by which this can be put into practice. 

CHAS. E. DOTY, Chairman, 
CULLEN BROWN, 
J. T. CURRAN, 
T. E. BAINBRIDGE, 
GEO. T. MORTIMER. 



259 



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